The Maritime provinces of Canada have a substantial seafood industry. With changing environmental conditions and human pollution, it is important to pay attention to the food safety of seafood such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). This March, our Synchrotron Club performed XRF (X-ray fluorescence), at the Canadian Light Source, on various tissues in blue mussels to determine their elemental composition. The Club’s investigation was the first time in which mussels were imaged.
Their findings could soon be used for preliminary studies providing a map of the mollusc’s organs along with the relative concentrations of the metals found. Other studies have verified the presence of metals in the tissues, but they were not specific as to where the concentrations reside.
Club members included: Seamus Adams, Anastasia Faustova, Donghyeon (Frederick) Go, Longyu (Irene) Li, Juveria Memon, Frank Wang, and Mr. Bhathena. Check out these photos of our students in action!