Monitoring of extractable organic halogens (EOX) in chlorine bleached pulp and paper mill effluents using four species of transplanted aquatic molluscs

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 33; no. 11; pp. 2321 - 2334
• Main Authors: Hayer, F, Wagner, P, Pihan, J C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-01-1996
• ISSN: 0045-6535

Four species of aquatic molluscs were collected in the relatively unpolluted Meuse river and transferred to 1 site upstream and 2 sites downstream of a chlorine bleached pulp and paper mill on the Ton river in France. Three bivalves (Anodonta cygnea, Unio pictorum, Dreissena polymorpha) and 1 gastropod (Viviparus viviparus) were transferred. Water, sediment and molluscs were sampled at intervals for 28 d and analysed for adsorbable organic halogens (AOX) and extractable organic halogens (EOX). Water AOX concentrations remained constant at the site above the mill but fluctuated at the downstream sites. The AOX concentrations were significantly higher downstream of the mill compared with upstream. Sediment AOX concentrations remained constant at the 3 sites and were significantly higher downstream than upstream. The EOX concentrations in the molluscs in the upstream site remained constant but increased in all species downstream of the mill. The accumulation rates were different for the different species, being lowest for V. viviparus and highest for A. cygnea. Accumulation of EOX was not directly proportional to the water AOX concentration. There are 32 references.