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THE RELATIONSHIP OF BIOACCUMULATIVE CHEMICALS IN WATER AND SEDIMENT TO RESIDUES IN FISH: A VISUALIZATION APPROACH
Citation:
Burkhard, L P., P. M. Cooke, AND D. Mount. THE RELATIONSHIP OF BIOACCUMULATIVE CHEMICALS IN WATER AND SEDIMENT TO RESIDUES IN FISH: A VISUALIZATION APPROACH. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, 22:2822-2830, (2003).
Description:
A visualization approach is developed and presented for depicting and interpreting bioaccumulation relationships and data, i.e., bioaccumulation factors (BAFs), biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) and chemical residues in fish, using water-sediment chemical concentration XY plots. The approach is based on five basic parameters that affect bioaccumulation of non-ionic organic chemicals: 1) the distribution of chemical between sediment and water, 2) the hydrophobicity of the compound (expressed as the n-octanol/water partition coefficient, Kow), 3) the relationship of food chains to water and sediment, 4) the length of the food chains, and 5) the degree to which the chemical is metabolized. The visualization approach using water-sediment XY plots captures and visually presents the existing bioaccumulation knowledge in a form which is readily understandable from chemical, biological, and ecological aspects, and therefore, useful in the assessment, communication, and management of risk for persistent bioaccumultive toxicants.