Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) as universal environmental monitors for trace contaminants
- Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Inst. of Marine Sciences
- National Biological Survey, Columbia, MO (United States)
- Arthur D. Little Co., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, NM (United States). New Mexico Ecological Services Office
The vast majority of data complied on trace contaminants in water has been acquired through biomonitoring; using organisms as bioconcentrators of trace substances. A particularly successful and widely applied approach utilizes bivalves in local, national, and international mussel watch programs. Attractive features of this approach are the widespread occurrence of bivalves, their high tolerance and viability, ease of analysis, and high bioconcentration factors for a wide range of compounds. However, uncertainties about uptake, deputation and biotransformation of contaminants convolute the data and make quantitative statements about water concentrations difficult. Recent developments demonstrate semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) are a promising new tool for biomonitoring. SPMDs are inexpensive, tolerant of extreme conditions, and concentrations of analytes sequestered by SPMDs can be used to infer bioconcentration potential and average ambient concentrations. The authors present data from freshwater systems such as the San Juan River comparing spatial trends in PAH metabolites in fish bile and PAHs sequestered by SPMDs, and marine environments such as PAHs in SPMDs deployed in Cook Inlet, Alaska. These data support the case for SPMDs as universal monitoring devices or pseudo-organisms that will provide a standardized approach to measuring and monitoring trace contaminants on both local and global scales.
- OSTI ID:
- 398244
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9649%%452
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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