Bioaccumulation of 210Po in common gastropod and bivalve species from the northern Gulf

•This is the first baseline for 210Po in gastropods and bivalves from northern Gulf.•210Po concentration in bivalves are higher than gastropods.•210Po in molluscs is absorbed from water and via ingestion of detrital material.•The CF for molluscs in the northern Gulf varied between 4.8 and 115×103.

This study sets the baseline for the concentration of the natural-series radionuclide polonium-210 in two species of gastropods and four species of bivalves that are common to the Northern Arabian/Persian Gulf. 210Po is primarily absorbed from water and via ingestion of detrital material by gastropoda and bivalves. This concentrated 210Po can then be passed along to the next trophic level of the marine food web. The lowest 210Po concentration was measured in the gastropod Stomatella auricular (10.36–12.39 Bq kg−1 dry) and the highest in the bivalve Marica marmorata (193.51–215.60 Bq kg−1 dry). The measured concentration factor for these molluscs in the northern Gulf varied between 4.8 and 115×103, values very similar to the IAEA recommended value for bivalves and gastropods of 2×104.