Bioaccumulation and detoxication of nodularin in tissues of flounder (Platichthys flesus), mussels (Mytilus edulis, Dreissena polymorpha), and clams (Macoma balthica) from the northern Baltic Sea.

Cyanobacterial hepatotoxin accumulation in mussels (Mytilus edulis, Dreissena polymorpha), clam (Macoma balthica), and flounder (Platichthys flesus) tissues was measured. Flounder were caught with gillnets from the western Gulf of Finland on 21 August 1999, 25 July 2000, and 25 August 2000. Blue mussels were collected from: (1) a steel cage at a depth of 3 m on 20 August 1999, (2) an enclosure at depths of 3-5 m, and (3) an artificial reef (wreck at 25-30 m) in the western Gulf of Finland between June and September 2000. Furthermore, blue mussels were collected from two sites between August and October 2000: south of the town of Hanko at depths of 5 and 20 m in the western Gulf of Finland and south of the city of Helsinki at a depth of 7 m in the central Gulf of Finland. M. balthica and D. polymorpha were collected at a depth of 12 m from Russian waters in the eastern Gulf of Finland on 1-4 August 2000. The samples were analyzed for the cyanobacterial hepatotoxins nodularin (NODLN) and microcystins (MCs) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). ELISA indicated a time-dependent accumulation of hepatotoxins in flounder liver up to 400 +/- 10 (SD) microg/kg on 25 August 2000. No hepatotoxins were detected in flounder muscle samples. In blue mussels, collected from an enclosure 3-5 m deep in the western Gulf of Finland on 23 August 2000, ELISA indicated cyanobacterial hepatotoxins up to 1490 +/- 60 microg/kg dry wt. Blue mussels collected from the other sites contained less cyanobacterial hepatotoxins (40-130 microg/kg dry wt). Clams and mussels from Russian waters contained cyanobacterial hepatotoxin at about 100-130 microg/kg dry wt. Total hepatotoxin levels in mussels from enclosures decreased from August to September, indicating at least partial detoxication/depuration of the toxins. LC-MS verified the presence of NODLN in mussels and flounder. Typical detoxication conjugates were observed by MALDI-TOF-MS in mussel samples collected during August 2000. In deeper-living wreck mussels cyanobacterial hepatotoxin levels continued to increase, from August to September, indicating that portions of cyanobacterial hepatotoxins reach the sea floor. NODLN bioaccumulation is a constant phenomenon in the area.