The shells of mussels, live-collected bivalves or during archaeological excavations, can be used as bioindicators of current and historical levels of heavy metal contamination. In this study, we examined the shells of Unio tumidus, commonly found in the Baltic Sea region, and determined the concentrations of Zn, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, and Cd in samples from the 10th, 11th, and 21st century from the area of the Szczecin Lagoon. The average levels of heavy metals (in μg g⁻¹ dry weight) in the shells from the Middle Ages were: 137.5 (Fe), 3.87 (Zn), 0.789 (Cu), 0.012 (Pb), 0.047 (Ni), and 0.0009 (Cd). Shells from the 21st century were significantly (P<0.05) more abundant in Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Cd (rates of increase: 1.96×, 3.54×, 2.71×, 2.08×, and 3.55×, respectively) than shells from the Middle Ages. These results reflect contemporary anthropogenic pollution of the environment with heavy metals and confirm the possibility of using U. tumidus shells in the assessment of heavy metal pollution levels.

贻贝的壳，活体采集的双壳类动物或在考古发掘过程中，可以用作指示当前和历史重金属污染水平的生物指示剂。在这项研究中，我们检查了常见于波罗的海地区的tu蛇壳的外壳，并确定了自10世纪，11世纪和21世纪以来样品中Zn，Cu，Fe，Pb，Ni和Cd的浓度。什切青泻湖区。中世纪贝壳中的重金属平均含量（以干克^-1干重计）为：137.5（Fe），3.87（Zn），0.789（Cu），0.012（Pb），0.047（Ni）和0.0009（镉）。从21世纪炮弹显著（P<0.05）的铁，铜，镍，铅和镉的含量比中世纪的贝壳丰富（分别为1.96倍，3.54倍，2.71倍，2.08倍和3.55倍）。这些结果反映了当代人为环境对重金属的污染，并证实了在评估重金属污染水平时使用美洲tu壳的可能性。