PARENT SESSION

1J - Bioaccumulation
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Wednesday, 30 April 2003
Chair: Tarazona, J.¹, ¹
Co-chair: Gobas, F.², ²

(WEP/63) Bioaccumulation of PCBs in Different Phytoplankton Species.

Gerofke, Antje¹, Kömp, Peter¹, McLachlan, Michael¹, ¹ Baltic Sea Research Institute, Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany, Germany

ABSTRACT- A novel experimental system to generate and verify constant dissolved concentrations of sparingly soluble compounds in algae cultures was developed. A standard teflon stir bar that was pre-soaked in a hexane solution of PCB proved to be the most effective method for maintaining constant dissolved PCB concentrations in the algae medium. Headspace sampling was used to verify that the dissolved concentrations remained constant with time. Comparing headspace and filtered water concentrations allowed the magnitude of the DOC contribution to the latter to be estimated. This system was used to conduct batch experiments of PCB uptake in algae. For Phaeodactylum tricornutum equilibration with the water column was rapid (<1 day for most congeners) and a good relationship between log BCF and log K_OW with a slope of 0.7 was obtained. Results for 3 further algae species will be presented.

Key words: phytoplankton, algae, bioaccumulation, PCBs