Mussels Alert Russian Water Authorities to Radiation Levels
Russian water authorities in Vladivostok have long used freshwater mussels in their filtration plant to detect heavy metal pollution. But now they are using them to monitor radiation levels coming from the reactor accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. The highly sensitive Unionidae mussels close their shells as soon as they encounter contaminants in the water, triggering special electronic sensors that alert operators, the agency said."The biomonitoring system works well," saidTamara Rozhkova, chief scientist at Primorsky Vodokanal. "The advantage over traditional monitoring is that the mollusks check the quality of the water constantly and can send signals to the operator in real time."
