The common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected as unique biomonitor species to implement a regional monitoring programme, the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch (MMW), in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. As of today, and upon standardization of the methodological approach, the MMW Network has been able to quantify 137Cs levels in mussels from 60 coastal stations and to produce the first distribution map of this artificial radionuclide at the scale of the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas. While measured 137Cs levels were found to be very low (usually <1 Bq kg-1 wet wt) 137Cs activity concentrations in the Black Sea and North Aegean Sea were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those in the western Mediterranean Basin. Such effects, far from representing a threat to human populations or the environment, reflect a persistent signature of the Chernobyl fallout in this area. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

International audience | The common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected as unique biomonitor species to implement a regional monitoring programme, the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch (MMW), in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. As of today, and upon standardization of the methodological approach, the MMW Network has been able to quantify 137Cs levels in mussels from 60 coastal stations and to produce the first distribution map of this artificial radionuclide at the scale of the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas. While measured 137Cs levels were found to be very low (usually &lt;1 Bq kg-1 wet wt) 137Cs activity concentrations in the Black Sea and North Aegean Sea were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those in the western Mediterranean Basin. Such effects, far from representing a threat to human populations or the environment, reflect a persistent signature of the Chernobyl fallout in this area. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Des elements radioactifs des familles de l'Uranium 238 et du Thorium 232 ont ete recherches dans des echantillons de Parmelia suicata et de Xanthoria parietina provenant de biotopes differents. Ces especes ont ete utilisees dans le suivi de la bio-accumulation de ces elements, emis par une centrale thermique fonctionnant au charbon, en Saone-et-Loire. Les concentrations, naturelles ou anthropiques, de la plupart de ces radioelements dans les lichens diminuent selon le site de la facon suivante: decharge radifere zone fortement uranifere zone industrielle zone rurale. Le caractere problematique de certains de ces elements est souligne et un tableau de resultats obtenus sur des echantillons de differentes especes d'une station a sol uranifere est propose a titre de reference.