Measuring the sediment/organism accumulation factor of PCB-52 using a kinetic model

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00195490· OSTI ID:6755431

McFarland, V A; Brannon, J M ^[1]; Feldhaus, J; Ace, L N ^[2]

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1. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS (United States)
2. Northeast Louisiana Univ., Monroe, LA (United States)

In aquatic systems, neutral organic chemical contaminants such as the PCBs, PAHs, dioxins, etc., primarily partition to the organic carbon (OC) of bedded sediments and the lipids of biota. Recognition of this fact led to the convention of normalizing concentrations of neutral chemicals in sediments on the basis of their total organic carbon (TOC) content and similarly normalizing concentrations in biota on the basis of their lipid content. The ratio of normalized concentrations at steady state has been called an accumulation factor (AF). Multiplying the TOC-normalized concentration of a neutral chemical in sediment by the AF provides an estimation of the steady state body burden of that chemical on a lipid basis in a sediment-exposed organism. Most of the studies measuring AFs have involved infaunal, sediment processing polychaetes, clams, and amphipods. Kinetic modeling using short exposures provides an alternative to long-term exposures to achieve steady state. There have been very few bioaccumulation studies in which contaminated sediments were the source of exposure. When comparisons have been made, kinetic projections of steady-state bioconcentration of chemicals in fish have generally underestimated long-term laboratory or field exposures. However, an advantage of kinetic modeling techniques is that short-term exposures offer the possibility of avoiding many conflicting rate-influencing variables that affect the establishment of a true equilibrium between the phases of interest. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of a three-compartment closed kinetic model to determine the AF for PCB-52 using a 5-d exposure. The exposure matrix involves suspended sediment and fish, rather than the usual deposited sediment and sediment-processing infaunal organisms. The model generates rate constants for intercompartmental transfer of the chemical, and an AF is calculated using these values.

• OSTI ID: 6755431
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States), Journal Name: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States) Vol. 52:5; ISSN 0007-4861; ISSN BECTA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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.
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
CONTAMINATION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ECOSYSTEMS
FISHES
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSIOLOGY
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
SEDIMENTS
VERTEBRATES