RIVER mussels wearing tiny sensor backpacks could help monitor the Mississippi for dangerous pollutants. The plan is for the mussels to measure the flow of nitrogen-rich fertiliser that courses down the river and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. An excess of the nutrient there can cause dead zones that suffocate marine life.
聯Mussels will measure the flow of nitrogen-rich fertiliser that courses down the Mississippi聰
Researchers at the University of Iowa in Iowa City have attached wireless sensor packages to mussels for measuring their 鈥済ape鈥� 鈥� how much their shells are open. They are also working on monitoring the animals鈥� heart rate, how much water they filter and when they burrow. Each behaviour changes according to the water conditions.
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In a previous experiment the mussels鈥� backpacks successfully transmitted signals to a receiver on the riverbed that relayed the signals to a lab on shore via a wired connection. The researchers are now testing their system on a group of mussels living in a tank, so that they can measure how the mussel shells gape in response to varying nitrogen levels.
The advantage of using mussels as a sensing mechanism is that they stay clean, unlike the electronic sensors that are normally used to monitor nitrogen content, says team member .
鈥淓verything flocks to it and all kinds of muck starts to grow on the device,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut if you put a mussel out, they clean themselves and live for years and years.鈥� Kruger will present the design for the mussel backpacks next month at the in Galveston, Texas.
Team member says the creatures could also be useful as hazardous waste or spill indicators. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 be the canary in the coal mine,鈥� he says. They could also help researchers understand how mussels feed on nitrogen from rivers.
of the US Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, praised the idea鈥檚 creativity, adding that you still need conventional sensors for precise readings of nitrogen concentrations in the river. At the moment the USGS has about two dozen in operation. 鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 afford to put sensors everywhere,鈥� Myers says. 鈥淚t would be wonderful if they came up with something that could be used as an alternative.鈥�
