Citation:

Walters, D. M., M. A. MILLS, AND B. S. Cade. Bioaccumulation Patterns Of PCBs In A Temperate, Freshwater Food Web And Their Relationshop To The Octanol-Water Partition Coefficient (Presentation). Presented at 2010 SETAC North America 31st Annual Meeting- Bridging Science with Communities, Portland, OR, November 07 - 11, 2010.

Impact/Purpose:

To investigate polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation relative to octanol-water partition coefficient (K_OW) and organism trophic position at the Lake Hartwell Superfund site (South Carolina, USA).

Description:

We investigated polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) bioaccumulation relative to octanol-water partition coefficient (K_OW) and organism tropic position (TP) at the Lake Hartwell Superfund site (South Carolina, USA). We measured PCBs (127 congeners) and stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N) is sediment, organic matter, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fish. TP, as calculated from δ¹⁵N, was strongly, linearly related to ΣPCBs, and teh food web magnification factor (FWMF) for Lake Hartwell was 3.05. Highly chlorinated congeners were enriched thorugh the food web, and congener composition suggested alternate benthic and pelagic pathways of PCB accumulation at lower trophic levels. FWMFs of individual congeners increased strongly with log K_OW, as did the predictive power (r²) of individual TP-CB regression models used to calculate FWMFs. We developed log K_OW-FWMF models for eight food webs with vastly different environments (freshwater, marine, arctic, temperate) and species composition (cold- vs. warmblooded species). The effect of K_OW on congener FWOW effect on FWMFs (no difference in model slopes among food webs). Our findings underscore the importance of hydrophobicity (as characterized by K_OW) in regulating bioaccumulation of recalcitrant compounds, and demonstrate that K_OW effects on bioaccumulation are more generalized than previously recognized. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT ROGER B. YEARDLEY, JR., LAND REMEDIATION AND POLLUTION CONTROL DIVISION, 513-569-7548.

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