As part of this revisited study a field study will be conducted in Karmøy in 2020. The objective of the this task is to measure the exposure and effects on ecologically and economically important aquatic organisms nearby Norsk Hydros largest primary aluminium plant at Karmøy, and to see if there is a correlation with chemical concentrations and the severity of the effects, and if this can be related to the concentration of historical or unregulated chemicals. Sampling of a gradient is therefore proposed.
Caged mussels will be deployed throughout the fjord near the Hydro Aluminium smelter to look at effects on animals that live within the water column of the seawater recipient. Mussels will be held on fixed suspended ropes (Fig 1) at several stations throughout Karmøy fjord. A reference station will also be selected. The exposure duration will be approximately 6 weeks. Chemical bioaccumulation and biomarker responses will be measured on Day 0 and after exposure. The focus will be on metals, regularly monitored PAHs and unregulated, usually unmonitored PAHs. All selected biomarkers are recommended by ICES for biological effects monitoring (Davies and Vethaak, 2012):
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Biological responses in mussels |
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Tissue chemistry |
subcellular response |
Tissue response |
whole organism response |
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PAH-NPD |
LMS (NRRT) |
Histochemistry (VvBAS, NL, LF) |
Stress-on-stress (SoS) |
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Metals |
Micronuclei (MN) |
Condition Index (CI) |
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Acetylcholine esterase (AChE) |
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Lipid peroxidation (LPO) |
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Oppgaven vil veiledes av Ailbhe Macken (NIVA) og Anders Ruus (NIVA/UiO).