Comparison of the accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bivalves and sediments in San Francisco Bay, California
- Jenkins, Sanders and Associates, Long Beach, CA (United States)
- Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
- Chevron Research and Technology Co., Richmond, CA (United States)
- Western States Petroleum Association, Concord, CA (United States)
Accumulation of non-polar organic chemicals into the lipids of aquatic organisms and into the organic carbon of sediments are controlled by the same physical/chemical characteristic of a chemical, the octanol-water partition coefficient. Although theoretically the monitoring of non-polar organic chemicals in aquatic organisms and sediments could be redundant, environmental factors such as metabolism, biodegradation, historical sediment deposits, etc. can cause the chemical profiles of aquatic organisms and sediments to be quite different. A comparison of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) profile in sediments and in bivalves exposed to the overlying water for 90 days at several stations near refinery discharges in San Francisco Bay was performed. Concentrations of all classes of PAHs were enriched in the sediments relative to the bivalves even after normalizing for organic carbon and lipids. The PAH profile in the sediments contained a higher proportion of high MW PAHs and non-substituted PAHs than was observed in the bivalves. Given the low capacity of bivalves to metabolize PAHs, other factors, such as differential solubility and bioavailability, must be important to explain this variation in partitioning of PAH classes between sediments and tissues.
- OSTI ID:
- 49468
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273-; TRN: IM9523%%291
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Denver, CO (United States), 30 Oct - 3 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 15th annual meeting: Abstract book. Ecological risk: Science, policy, law, and perception; PB: 286 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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