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Title: Model of PCB in the Lake Michigan lake trout food chain

Journal Article · · Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es00120a003· OSTI ID:7096458

An age-dependent food chain model that considers species bioenergetics and toxicant exposure through water and food is developed. The model is successfully calibrated to 1971 PCB concentrations of Lake Michigan alewife and lake trout by using a dissolved PCB concentration in the water of 5-10 ng/L. The model indicates that for the top predator lake trout, PCB exposure through the food chain can account for greater than 99% of the observed concentration. An octanol-water partitioning calculation using a coefficient of 10/sup 6.72/ and lake trout lipid concentrations failed to reproduce the observed data by a factor of about 4. It is estimated that a criterion specifying that PCB concentrations of all ages of lake trout be at or below 5 ..mu..g/g (wet weight) in the edible portion would require that dissolved PCB concentrations be reduced to somewhere between 0.5 and 2.5 ng/L.

Research Organization:
Manhattan Coll., Bronx, NY
OSTI ID:
7096458
Journal Information:
Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 18:2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English