Biological monitoring of ambient water quality: the case for using bivalves as sentinel organisms for monitoring petroleum pollution in coastal waters

Concepts of lipid/water equilibration to explain bio-concentration of hydrocarbons were tested in situ and seem to hold for petroleum mixtures commonly encountered in coastal waters. K_bef in bivalve lipids was constant at approximately 2×10 ⁵ when concentrations were between 1 and 400 μg l ^-1. These and related studies on the factors controlling body burden in bivalves were used to formulate a strategy for monitoring levels of chronic oil pollution necessary for water quality management.