PARENT SESSION
PS19 - Bioavailability
Sunday, 17 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
(P175) Bioavailability and toxicity of contaminants to Corophium volutator: field and laboratory spiked sediments.
Hellou, Jocelyne*,1,2, Cheeseman, Kerry3, Desnoyers, Elaine2, Gronlund, Anette3, Johnston, Dawn, Leonard, Jim1, Robertson, Sarah3, Steller, Sean1, 1 Marine Chemistry Section, Marine Environmental Sciences Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada2 Chemistry Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada3 Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
ABSTRACT- The risk associated with exposure to biogenic and anthropogenic stress will depend on the characteristics of the species studied and our ability to follow up on effects in the organism of choice. Small benthic animals such as amphipods are good to use in laboratory investigations and can help to assess the factors involved in affecting ecosystem health, even when not available in the field. The binding of hydrophobic chemicals to sediments will depend on their physical-chemical properties, perhaps their source, the grain size and total organic carbon (TOC) of sediments under consideration. The fate of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), abundant priority pollutants in coastal sediments was investigated using a local marine amphipod, Corophium volutator, collected inter-tidally from the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia and exposed in the laboratory to Halifax Harbour sediments. The bioavailability of PACs was determined by examining their bioaccumulation in amphipods with exposure time, using different groups of animals and post-depuration. Biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAF) were compared for various compounds and for sediments from various locations in the harbour, relative to laboratory spiked sediments. Biological effects, i.e. amphipods survival was not affected and females reproduced at all sites. Lipid content and growth were also examined in the short-term and interpreted relative to chemical and biological results obtained on inter-tidal mussels collected from the same locations, in a parallel study. The response determined in blue mussels, i.e. lipid content and condition indices were interpreted according to the bioaccumulation of PACs and studies available in the literature. Similarities and differences will be placed in context.
Key words: amphipods, polycyclic aromatic compounds, lipids, growth