Development of an expert system for the integration of biomarker responses in mussels into an animal health index

Biomarkers on sentinel organisms are utilised worldwide in biomonitoring programs. However, the lack of effective interpretational capacity has hampered their uptake for use for assessment of risk in environmental management. The aim of the present study was to develop and test an objective decision-support or expert system capable of integrating biomarker results into a five-level health-status index. The expert system is based on a set of rules derived from available data on responses to natural and contaminant-induced stress of marine mussels. Integration of parameters includes: level of biological organization; biological significance; mutual inter-relationship; and qualitative trends in a stress gradient. The system was tested on a set of biomarker data obtained from the field and subsequently validated with data from previous studies. The results demonstrate that the expert system can effectively quantify the biological effects of different levels of pollution. The system represents a simple tool for risk assessment of the harmful impact of contaminants by providing a clear indication of the degree of stress syndrome induced by pollutants in mussels.