Non-equilibrium sediment-water partitioning and its effect on passive and active bioaccumulation of organic contaminants

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

OSTI ID:460542

Shea, D ^[1]

---

1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Toxicology

The authors measured the bioaccumulation of non-polar organic contaminants (PAHs, PCBs, OCPs) in the deposit feeding soft-shell clam, M. arenaria, and in the passive accumulator, the semi-permeable membrane device (SPMD) in sediments of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay. They also modeled the partitioning of these contaminants by measuring both the total and AEP (available for equilibrium partitioning) fraction of contaminants in the sediment and the sediment porewater, along with measurements of sediment and colloidal organic carbon. They found the sediment AEP fraction of pyrogenic PAH ranged from 15% to 85% depending on location and time of the sediment collection and the porewater AEP fraction ranged from < 1% to 50% depending on the octanol-water partition coefficient. Using lipid normalized concentrations, they found that the deposit feeding clams were in equilibrium with the sediment AEP fraction, the passive SPMDs were in equilibrium with the porewater AEP fraction, but the sediment and porewater were in non-equilibrium, steady state. Implications of these results to benthic bioaccumulation processes and to sediment quality management will be discussed.

• OSTI ID: 460542
• Report Number(s): CONF-961149--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CLAMS
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
WATER POLLUTION