Research Article
Harnum GH
Abstract
From the analysis of the data collected, it may be inferred that cadmium (Cd) levels in wild mussels may be used as a prognosticator for the Cd levels in commercially aged cultured mussels from the same approximate location and ,as such, may serve as one of the many important pre-determinates for mussel culture site selection. Registration numbers from all commercially registered mussel culture sites in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador were entered into Excel random number generating software and three random sites were selected. Approximately one kilogram of wild (71 mussels) and one kilogram of farmed (122 mussels) were collected from each of the selected sites. Fifty nine (59) mussels from the wild and 59 mussels from farmed samples of the same approximate age (3 years) were selected for cd analysis using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS). Three composite samples were prepared from the extracted meats for FAAS analysis. Statistical analysis using á of 0.05 included one way and two way ANOVA, and two tailed t-tests assuming unequal variance. Statistical analysis indicated that there was no significant differences between the Cd levels in the farmed vs. wild, or among the 3 different sites tested. The average Cd level from all sites combined was 0.271 ppm. The Cd levels from all sites, both wild and farmed, were below the regulatory guidelines of 2 mg/kg for marine bivalves set by FAO and Codex.