EAST BOOTHBAY, Maine (AP) A Maine lab is set to receive about $900,000 in federal funding to research a new method of detecting potentially harmful toxins in mussels.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Center for Coastal Ocean Science awarded the money to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Maine Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, say the project will allow Bigelow’s scientist to research a three-in-one test for toxins that accumulate in mussels.

The senators said the new tests would protect the state’s mussel-growing industry.