Environmental organic contaminant body burdens and GC-MS based untargeted metabolomics in mediterranean mussels from Port Phillip Bay, Australia☆

Hao Shen; Damien Nzabanita; Chantel Foord; Stephen Grist; Dayanthi Nugegoda

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122245

Environmental organic contaminant body burdens and GC-MS based untargeted metabolomics in mediterranean mussels from Port Phillip Bay, Australia^☆

Environ Pollut. 2023 Oct 15:335:122245. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122245. Epub 2023 Jul 22.

Authors

Hao Shen¹, Damien Nzabanita², Chantel Foord², Stephen Grist², Dayanthi Nugegoda²

Affiliations

¹ School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, PO box 71, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia. Electronic address: s3638754@student.rmit.edu.au.
² School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, PO box 71, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.

PMID: 37487873
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122245

Abstract

Mussels were collected from four coastal sites around Port Phillip Bay, Australia in Mar and Apr 2021). Body burdens of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were measured and the possible sources of toxicants discussed. In addition, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed using the mantle tissues of mussels. Correlations between the results of contaminant body burdens and metabolic variations were investigated. The results demonstrated that high accumulations of low-molecular-weight PAHs were found in mussels. High body burdens of PCBs and OCPs were only found at mussels from the site close to the river mouth. Some of the metabolic pathways were correlated with the accumulation of PAHs. No correlations were found between PCB and OCP accumulations and metabolic abundances. According to the food and environmental standards of the European Union (EU), the PAH, PCB, and OCP accumulation in mussels in this study are a serious food safety concern.

Keywords: Metabolomics; Mussels; OCPs; PAHs; PCBs; Port Phillip Bay.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bays / chemistry
Bivalvia* / metabolism
Body Burden
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated* / analysis
Metabolomics
Pesticides* / analysis
Polychlorinated Biphenyls* / analysis
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / analysis
Seafood / analysis

Substances

Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
Pesticides
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons