WA7 Bioaccumulation and Biotransformation of POPs
Room 18C/D, Level 4
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wednesday, 12 November 2003
Chair: Letcher, Robert ,
Co-chair: Fisk, Aaron ,
(386) Trophic transfer of persistent organic pollutants in Arctic marine food webs.
Fisk, A1, 2, Hoekstra, P2, Borga, K3, Norstrom, R3, Muir, D2, 1 University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA2 National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, Canada3 University of Insubria, Varese, VA, Italy
ABSTRACT- Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are ubiquitous in the Arctic environment despite their limited use in this region. These chemicals originate from temperate regions and are transported predominantly through the atmosphere to the Arctic. The characteristics of Arctic food webs, long and dependent on lipids, present a unique situation that results in high concentrations of POPs in Arctic upper trophic level organisms such as seabirds and marine mammals. Biomagnification of POPs in an Arctic marine food web was first demonstrated in 1998 in a simple food web consisting of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), ringed seal (Phoca hispida), and polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Since that time a number of comprehensive studies have shed light on the factors that influence the trophic transfer of POPs in Arctic marine food webs. These studies cover a wide geographical area, including the Beaufort Sea, Northern Baffin Bay, Barents Sea and the White Sea. This seminar will summarize the findings of these studies and discuss the factors that influence the trophic transfer of POPs in Arctic marine food webs.
Key words: Arctic, organic contaminants, food webs, biomagnification