Role of chemical and ecological factors in trophic transfer of organic chemicals in aquatic food webs
- Simon Fraser Univ., Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada). School of Resource and Environmental Management
- Univ. of Windsor, Ontario (Canada)
Trophic transfer of chlorinated organic contaminants was investigated in an aquatic community composed of zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and fish. Biomagnification, measured as the increase in lipid-based chemical concentrations in predator over that in prey, was observed for high-K[sub OW] chemicals (log K[sub OW] > 6.3). Low-K[sub OW] chemicals (log K[sub OW] < 5.5) did not biomagnify in the food web, and chemicals with log K[sub OW] between 5.5 and 6.3 showed some evidence of biomagnification. Trophic level differences in chemical accumulation in the food web could not be attributed to bioconcentration into increasing trophic levels with increasing lipid levels, as no relationship was observed between trophic position and lipid content of organisms. Plots of contaminant-ordinated principal component scores in component space predicted the detailed diets of the species examined. It is concluded that (1) trophic interactions play a crucial role in the distribution of high-K[sub OW] chemicals but not for low-K[sub OW] chemicals and that (2) contaminant distributions provide a means to determine structure in aquatic communities.
- OSTI ID:
- 6479646
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Vol. 18:6; ISSN ETOCDK; ISSN 0730-7268
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AROMATICS
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
FOOD CHAINS
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTIONS
WATER POLLUTION