PH11 Bioaccumulation and Biotransformation of POPs
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday, 13 November 2003
(PH113) Evaluation of Congener-Specific Concentrations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Patterns in an Aquatic-Based Food Web at the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site, Michigan.
Blankenship, A1, 2, Zwiernik, M2, Parks, C2, Holem, R1, Bradley, P2, Neigh, A2, Kay, D1, Giesy, J2, 1 ENTRIX, Okemos, MI, USA2 Michigan State University, Dept. of Zoology, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, East Lansing, MI, USA
ABSTRACT- Approximately eighty miles of the Kalamazoo River has been designated a Superfund site with PCBs as the primary contaminant. As part of a comprehensive field study on exposure to PCBs and potential ecological risks of PCBs, several different aquatic-based food items were collected and analyzed for PCB congeners from the former Trowbridge impoundment. Representative species of fish (including smallmouth bass, various suckers, carp, and a forage fish composite), aquatic plants, representative invertebrates (e.g., benthic invertebrates, crayfish, and several taxa of aquatic emergent invertebrates), and co-located sediments were collected from up to six areas along the Kalamazoo River. Four of the sampling grids were located within the submerged portions of the former Trowbridge impoundment. The remaining two sampling grids were located at an upstream reference location at Fort Custer State Recreation Area. Total concentrations of PCBs in sediments and smallmouth bass from the former Trowbridge impoundment ranged from 0.017 to 5.2 mg PCB/kg dw and from 3.5 to 10.2 mg PCB/kg ww, respectively. Concentrations of PCBs in all other aquatic-based biota from the former Trowbridge impoundment were less than the maximum concentration observed in smallmouth bass. Total concentrations of PCBs in sediments and smallmouth bass from the reference area ranged from 0.014 to 0.023 mg PCB/kg dw and from 0.4 to 1.4 mg PCB/kg ww, respectively. Finally, a comparison of congener patterns and total PCB concentrations will be presented and discussed across trophic levels, including coplanar PCB congeners and associated concentrations of total 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) equivalents (TEQs).
Key words: TEQs, PCBs, pattern, bioaccumulation