The objective of this work was to assess the contents and patterns of selected organic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls - PCBs, and chlorinated pesticides - DDT) in the southern part of the Baltic Sea proper, using blue mussels, Mytilus trossulus, as sentinel organisms. The mussels were collected from the Baltic Sea off Poland. The sampling programme focused on the mouths of the rivers Odra and Vistula, located respectively in the Pomeranian Bay and the Gulf of Gdansk, both known to be under anthropogenic pressure.

This work was carried out within the framework of bilateral co-operation between the Institute of Oceanology, Sopot, Poland and the Institute of Chemical and Environmental Investigations (IIQAB/CID), Barcelona, Spain. It was also financially supported by the Institute of Oceanology statutory research project no. 2001/3.3.

19 pages, 4 figures, 1 table.

Peer reviewed