Relationships among the species of copper, organic compounds and bioaccumulation along the mariculture area in Taiwan

In Taiwan the first incident of green discoloration in the oysters Crassostrea gigas was observed in the Charting coastal area in January 1986 and the mortality reports appeared 3 months later. The cause of green oysters was identified as copper pollution. The copper content of the oysters was extremely high (2100 μg/g and 4400 μg/g of dry weight in January 1986 and January 1989, respectively). In this paper some recent data on distribution of copper species (complexed by inorganic and organic ligands, labile and non-labile, polar and non-polar) and forms (dissolved and particulate), dissolved organic compounds (such as lipids, acid- and base-mobile organic compounds) and copper assimilative capacity in sea water are reported. In general, high concentrations of particulate copper (range from 3.09 to 732 μg/l) and non-labile organic copper (over 70% of total dissolved copper) were observed. Relatively low values of polar organic copper (less than about 48% of the total organic copper) indicated that non-polar organic complexes from man-made organic pollutants were the major complexes in the study area.