Mussel Watch Worldwide Literature Survey - 1991 



Adriana Y. Cantillo 



Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division 



Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment 



National Ocean Service 



ABSTRACT 



The NOAA National Status and Trends Program includes the Mussel Watch Project 

 in which mussels or oysters and sediments are collected from more than 240 

 sites in U. S. coastal waters. The bivalves and sediments are analyzed for more 

 than 70 analytes including organic chemicals, selected major and minor 

 elements, and ancillary parameters. This bibliography is the result of the 

 compilation of a comprehensive collection of worldwide literature on the use of 

 marine mussels or oysters as sentinel organisms for the study of coastal 

 contamination. Information gathered will be used to compare results with those of 

 the NS&T Mussel Watch Project. Five electronic bibliographical databases were 

 searched and extensive manual searching was done to compile more than 1200 

 citations. An extensive index of species name, geographical location and analytes 

 is included. 



I. INTRODUCTION 



One of the principal components of the NOAA National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program 

 is the Mussel Watch Project in which mussels or oysters and sediments are collected 

 from more than 240 sites in U. S. coastal waters. The bivalves and sediments are 

 analyzed for a large suite of organic chemicals, selected major and minor elements, and 

 ancillary parameters. The more than 70 analytes are listed in Table 1. The Mussel 

 Watch Project is currently in its 6th year of operation. Descriptions of the program, 

 sampling sites, and analytical results have been published. Current information on the 

 NS&T Program can be obtained by writing the National Status and Trends Program. 



The purpose of this bibliographic search is to compile a comprehensive collection of 

 worldwide literature on the use of marine mussels or oysters as sentinel organisms for 

 the study of coastal contamination. This compilation will be used to compare the results 

 of such studies to those of the NS&T Mussel Watch Project. 



II. DESCRIPTION OF UTERATURE SEARCH 



Five electronic bibliographical databases in the DIALOG^ system were searched in March 

 of 1991 (Table 2). They were: BIOSIS PREVIEWS, CA SEARCH, NTIS, OCEANIC 

 ABSTRACTS and AQUATIC SCIENCE ABSTRACTS. The complete description of these 

 databases, including the journals and other types of publications abstracted, as well as 

 time coverage, can be found in the DIALOG "blue sheets" and chapter descriptions. CA 

 SEARCH is the electronic equivalent of Chemical Abstracts , while AQUATIC SCIENCE 

 ABSTRACTS is that of Aquatic Science Abstracts , and BIOSIS PREVIEWS is that of 



^ DIALOG is available worldwide. In the United States, contact Dialog Information 

 Services, Inc.. 800 334 2564. Outside the United States, contact Dialog International 

 Marketing, telex 334499, fax 415 858 7069. 



