Stable nitrogen isotope ratios and accumulation of various HOCs in northern Baltic aquatic food chains

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:191318

Broman, D; Axelman, J; Bergqvist, P A; Naef, C; Rolff, C; Zebuehr, Y ^[1]

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1. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)

Ratios of naturally occurring stable isotopes of nitrogen ({delta}{sup 15}N) can be used to numerically classify trophic levels of organisms in food chains. By combining analyses results of various HOCs (e.g. PCDD/Fs, PCBs, DDTs, HCHs and some other pesticides) the biomagnification of these substances can be quantitatively estimated. In this paper different pelagic and benthic northern Baltic food chains were studied. The {delta}{sup 15}N-data gave food chain descriptions qualitatively consistent with previous conceptions of trophic arrangements in the food chains. The different HOCs concentrations were plotted versus the {delta}{sup 15}N-values for the different trophic levels and an exponential model of the form e{sup (A+B*{delta}N)} was fitted to the data. The estimates of the constant B in the model allows for an estimation of a biomagnification power (B) of different singular, or groups of, contaminants. A B-value around zero indicates that a substance is flowing through the food chain without being magnified, whereas a value > 0 indicates that a substance is biomagnified. Negative B-values indicate that a substance is not taken up or is metabolized. The A-term of the expression is only a scaling factor depending on the background level of the contaminant.

• OSTI ID: 191318
• Report Number(s): CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
BALTIC SEA
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
DIOXIN
FOOD CHAINS
FURANS
HYDROCARBONS
ISOTOPE RATIO
NITROGEN 15
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
WATER POLLUTION