Background concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis (Linnaeus) from Peninsular Malaysia

摘要

Within the Asia-Pacific region, the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis has been established as a biomoni-toring agent for heavy metals in Thailand (Sukasem and Tabucanon, 1993; Ruangwises and Ruangwises, 1998), Hong Kong (Phillips et al., 1982; Phillips, 1985; Wong et al., 2000) and India (Senthilnathan et al., 1998). Heavy metal levels in P. viridis have also been reported from Indonesia (Hutagalung, 1989), Taiwan (Han et al., 1997) and the Philippines (Hungspreugs et al., 1989). In Malaysia, P. viridis had been reported to be aquacul-tured since the 1970s (Sivalingam, 1977). However, there had only been a few studies on the accumulation of heavy metals by this mussel species (Sivalingam and Bhaskaran, 1980; Devi, 1986; Liong, 1986; Ismail, 1993; Din and Jamaliah, 1994). The west coast of Peninsular Malaysia comprises about 100,000 hectares and this contributes significantly to coastal productivity (Ong, 1985). The area is rich in renewable resources due to its productive coastal ecosystems and has extensive culture fisheries, aquaculture (Chua et al., 2000) and intertidal molluscs (Ismail, 2000). Among the intertidal molluscs, P. viridis is one of the species that can be found along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Ismail, 2000). Whether the mussels are cultured or grow wild, their abundance is of importance for biomonitoring purposes. This study aimed to ascertain the distribution of P. viridis in Peninsular Malaysia and to provide the background concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in this species.