Mussel watch monitoring program: a practical monitoring tool of potentially toxic metals pollution from 1970 to beyond 2070

Abstract

A more recent online literature search (as of 1 December 2021) using the keyword ‘Mussel Watch’ on the Scopus database has yielded a total of 304 publications recorded from more than 52 countries during 1975 – 2021. The increasing pattern of worldwide publications related to ‘Mussel Watch’ throughout the years is also evident (Figure 1, as plotted using the KaleidaGraph Version 3.08 Sygnergy Software, Eden Prairie, MN, USA). Subsequent analysis based on the exponential regression model as the fit type in KaleidaGraph (Figure 1) has further projected an exponential increase in the numbers of papers to be published beyond the 2070s. In fact, such an increasing trend appears to be in tandem with the predicted increasing size of the world’s population (Figure 2).