Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the Russian coast of the Black Sea: Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) in the Sochi River estuary (Sochi, Russia).

This study provides data on concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), from the eastern Black Sea (Sochi, Russia). At all stations sampled, phenanthrene, pyrene, chrysene, and fluoranthene were dominant compounds. Individuals of the < 60 mm size group had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher concentrations of fluorene, phenanthrene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and low-molecular-weight PAHs compared to larger individuals. The total levels of pollutants did not differ significantly between the organs, but there were variations in their qualitative composition. All indicator PAH ratios for all the specimens showed a dominance of petrogenic PAHs. The levels of toxicants in our study area were higher than those reported for Ukraine, the Bosphorus Strait, some districts of Turkey, and Bulgarian waters near the city of Varna. However, these levels proved to be lower than those off the coast of İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park and Anadolu Feneri. Thus, the coastal waters off Sochi exhibit moderate contamination by PAHs of petrogenic origin, likely coming with contaminated water discharged from ships and oil spills and accumulating near the coast due to the specific pattern of local currents.