Shellfish and residual chemical contaminants: hazards, monitoring, and health risk assessment along French coasts.

In this review, we address the identification of residual chemical hazards in shellfish collected from the marine environment or in marketed shellfish. Data, assembled on the concentration of contaminants detected, were compared with the appropriate regulatory and food safety standards. Moreover, data on human exposure and body burden levels were evaluated in the context of potential health risks.

Seasonal and decadal variations in lead sources to eastern North Atlantic mussels.

The concentration of Pb and its stable isotope composition were measured in 216 composite samples of 50 blue mussels (Mytilus edulis (M. edulis)) collected quarterly between 1985 and 2005 at three sites along the French Atlantic coast, one in the La Fresnaye Bay and the others in the Loire and Seine River estuaries. Depending on the sites and time periods, Pb concentrations were 5-66 times higher than the natural background value for the North Atlantic.

Comparison of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in mussels and oysters in France and the United States.

This paper compares data of 15 individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations from two monitoring programs: the French Rdseau National d'Observation de la qualité du milieu marin (RNO) and the Mussel Watch project of the U.S. National Status and Trends (NST) program.

Influence of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) on the behaviour of porcine thyroid epithelial cells in primary culture through thrombospondin-1 synthesis.

Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a secreted polypeptide that is thought to play a major role in the regulation of folliculogenesis and differentiation of thyroid cells. On porcine thyroid follicular cells cultured on plastic substratum, TGF-beta1, in a concentration-dependent way, promoted the disruption of follicles, cell spreading, migration and confluency by a mechanism that did not involve cell proliferation. TGF-beta1 strongly activated the production of thrombospondin-1 and (alpha)vbeta3 integrin in a concentration-dependent manner whereas the expression of thyroglobulin was unaffected.