Abstract |
As is increasingly well documented and frequently stated in introductions, sediments are the ultimate sink for hydrophobic organic pollutants and heavy metals. These pollutants are potentially bioavailable to sediment-dwelling organisms, and acute or chronic health effects can occur if sufficient levels are bioaccumulated. Predation by fishes and epibenthic invertebrates on contaminated benthos introduces sediment contaminants into pelagic food webs that may then biomagnify through the food web. Thus, bioaccumulation by infaunal organisms is the first step in the biological transport of hydrophobic pollutants from the sediment reservoir to higher trophic levels, including shore birds, marine mammals, and human consumers. Accumulation of these pollutants in higher trophic levels can result in impaired reproduction and increased cancer risk for human consumers. In addition to playing a key role in ecological and human health-risk assessments, bioaccumulation by infaunal organisms generates insights into the bioavailability of sediment contaminants and can be used to test the assumptions of the techniques used to derive sediment quality criteria. (Copyright (c) 1992 by Lewis Publishers, Inc.) |