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ACCUMULATION OF POLYCHLORINATED ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM SEDIMENT BY THREE BENTHIC MARINE SPECIES
Citation:
Pruell, R., N. Rubinstein, B. Taplin, J.A. LiVolsi, AND R. Bowen. ACCUMULATION OF POLYCHLORINATED ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM SEDIMENT BY THREE BENTHIC MARINE SPECIES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-93/082 (NTIS PB93173698).
Description:
A laboratory experiment was conducted to measure the accumulation of selected polychlorinated compounds by marine benthos exposed to environmentally contaminated sediment. andworms (Nereis virens), clams (Macoma nasuta), and grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) were exposed to sediment collected from the Passaic River, New Jersey. ll three species accumulated 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuan (2,3,7,8-TCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the sediment. n addition, a recently identified sulfur containing analog of tetrachlorinated, dibenzofurans, 2,4,6,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-thiophene (2,4,6,8-TCDD), accumulated in the three species. lthough final contaminant concentrations were highest in the sandworms, AFs were generally higher for the clams and shrimp and lower for the sandworms. he AFs for 2,4,6,8-TCDT were significantly higher for shrimp than for sandworms and clams. CB 153 showed higher AF values than those of the other compounds studied. lams showed preferential accumulation of lower molecular weight PCB congeners which may be due to the very low lipid content in this species. andworms and especially shrimp appeared to metabolize congeners 52, 101, and 151 which all contain vicinal hydrogens in the meta and para regions of the molecule.