Bioaccumulation of cyclopenta[cd]pyrene and benzo[ghi]fluoranthene by mussels transplanted in a coastal lagoon

The bioaccumulation of two isomeric non-alternant non-priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), namely cyclopenta[cd]pyrene and benzo[ghi]fluoranthene, was investigated in caged mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) exposed for 30 days in three sites of a coastal lagoon (Pialassa Baiona, Ravenna, Italy) contaminated by pyrogenic PAHs. The concentration of cyclopenta[cd]pyrene and benzo[ghi]fluoranthene increased from undetectable levels in reference mussels withdrawn from the Adriatic sea to 10–30 ng g−1 dry weight in transplanted mussels. Other contaminants bioaccumulated by caged mussels included pyrene, fluoranthene and mercury. Whilst the isomer concentration ratio pyrene/fluoranthene in biota was comparable to that observed in sediments, the cyclopenta[cd]pyrene/benzo[ghi]fluoranthene ratio was much lower in mussels than in sediments. The lower sediment biota accumulation factor of cyclopenta[cd]pyrene with respect to that of benzo[ghi]fluoranthene was tentatively attributed to the greater biological activity of the former compound, which contains a reactive olefinic bond in the cyclopenta fused ring moiety. Given the higher mutagenic activity of cyclopenta[cd]pyrene with respect to other priority PAHs, its bioaccumulation from contaminated sediments may rise considerably the overall toxicity of PAH residues in exposed biota.