Spatial and temporal variability of PCBs in Detroit River water assessed using a long term biomonitoring program.

An assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water of the Detroit River, North America, was performed using mussel biomonitoring data generated between 1996 and 2010. The study included a temporal monitoring program at six locations and an enhanced spatial survey performed during 2002. Mussels were transplanted at biomonitoring stations and collected after 21-226 d.

Determination of in situ polychlorinated biphenyl elimination rate coefficients in the freshwater mussel biomonitor Elliptio complanata deployed in the Huron-Erie corridor, southeast Michigan, USA, and southwest Ontario, Canada.

Quantitative mussel biomonitoring studies often use laboratory-measured whole-body elimination rate coefficients (k(tot) in conjunction with concentration data from field-deployed mussels to estimate bioavailable steady-state contaminant concentrations (C(m(ss)) in aquatic systems. However, the validity of applying laboratory k(tot) values to field-deployed mussels has not been verified. The present study quantified in situ k(tot) values by the common mussel biomonitor species Elliptio complanata for a group of performance reference compound polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry 23, 61, 109, and 173) at 11 sites along the Lake Huron-Lake Erie corridor (southeast MI, USA, and southwest ON, Canada).