The role of lipids in the bioaccumulation of hydrophobic chemicals in phytoplankton
- Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Theory and empirical evidence suggest that bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic compounds such as PCBs in aquatic foodwebs is largely controlled by partitioning of the chemical from water to the organism`s lipids. Thus bioaccumulation is modeled as a function of the octanol-water partition coefficient, Kow. However, data from this laboratory have shown that the bioaccumulation of PCBs in phytoplankton is not a simple function of Kow. Specifically, less hydrophobic compounds have bioaccumulation factors greater than predicted by Kow, and very hydrophobic chemicals have bioaccumulation factors independent of Kow. A series of experiments were conducted to determine the types of lipids found in phytoplankton, whether certain compounds had preferences for different types of lipids, and whether Kow is a good surrogate for phytoplankton lipid-water partition coefficients. The results indicate that phytoplankton lipids vary significantly in composition compared to fish lipids; compounds with different hydrophobicities have different affinities for different lipid compounds; and that lipid-water partition coefficients for polar lipids are less than Kow and may plateau at a maximum value.
- OSTI ID:
- 460541
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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