PCB cycling in marine plankton
- State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States). Marine Sciences Research Center
Ecosystem-scale models of contaminant bioaccumulation and toxicity are often sensitive to quantification of uptake and trophic transfer at the base of aquatic food chains. Significant uncertainty remains in assessing the rates and routes of transfer of hydrophobic contaminants by phytoplankton and zooplankton. Using radio-labeled 2,2{prime},4,4{prime}-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB), the authors have conducted experiments to measure the transfer of PCB from seawater to phytoplankton to copepods. Uptake, equilibration, and release of PCB onto/from algal cells were found to be rapid and not appreciably affected by the algal growth phase. Initial experiments indicate that when PCB-contaminated diatoms were fed to calanoid copepods, the assimilation efficiencies in the grazers ranged from 30--50%. Ongoing experiments are investigating this process further and quantitatively comparing copepod uptake of PCB from food and from the dissolved phase. These parameters of uptake and release are essential in the development and application of contaminant bioaccumulation models for marine and aquatic food chains.
- OSTI ID:
- 458332
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149-; TRN: IM9717%%118
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: partnerships for the environment - science, education, and policy, Washington, DC (United States), 17-21 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of SETAC 17. annual meeting -- Abstract book. Partnerships for the environment: Science, education, and policy; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Partitioning of PCBs into phytoplankton lipids
Bioaccumulation of PCBs by algae: Kinetics versus equilibrium