SIMCA multivariate data analysis of blue mussel components in environmental pollution studies

Abstract Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from one pristine and one polluted location on the Norwegian coast were transferred to an aquarium. After 4 months under controlled unpolluted conditions, samples of muscle tissue and gonad tissue from ten specimens of each of the two classes of mussels were characterized by capillary gas chromatography (g.c.) after methanolysis and silylation. The g.c. patterns of the 50–60 predominant peaks representing naturally occurring components were treated by SIMCA multivariate data analysis implemented to run on a HP-85 desk-top computer. This analysis discriminated clearly between two classes of mussels for both the muscle and gonad tissue. Similarly, the g.c. patterns of the gonad tissue differentiated between male and female mussels. Multivariate data treatment of naturally occurring components might thus be an alternative to the Mussel Watch survey which is based on measurements of foreign components in the mussel tissues.