A study was carried out to determine the activities of radionuclides (137Cs, 40K, 226Ra, 214Bi, 214Pb, and 210Pb) and the levels of biochemical components (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins) in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) along the Algerian coast. The goal was to evaluate the effect of mussels' biological parameters on radionuclide concentrations, through two coastal water biomonitoring programs. The mussels were taken from three study areas on the Algerian coast: Kristel (Oran), Surcouf (Alger), and Collo (Skikda), for the passive biomonitoring program and transplanted from each study area into the control site of Surcouf. Biochemical components were determined by means of UV-visible colorimetric assays, while the activity concentrations of radionuclides were measured by gamma-ray spectrometry. The results showed that carbohydrates were the most abundant biochemical components (40-60%) compared with proteins (20-40%) and lipids (15-20%). 137Cs activity concentrations were below the lower limit of detection (LOD) for all samples, while the high activities of 40K are the result of its behavior as stabile potassium K which is extensively used in the metabolism of mussels reflects the conditional state of mussels. 210Pb concentration reflects the conditional state of mussels (morphometric parameters and proteins content). The mussels' bioaccumulation capacity for radionuclides was found to be dependent on the growing site and the biomonitoring time period.
Keywords: Biological parameters; Environmental assessment; Radioactivity; Southwestern Mediterranean; Transplanted mussels.
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