Effect of PCB Bioavailability Changes in Sediments on Bioaccumulation in Fish

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fadaeietal2015effectofpcbbioavailabilitychangesinsedimentsonbioaccumulationinfish.pdf (1.85 MB)
 es5b03107_si_001.pdf (1.17 MB)

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https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b03107

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03107
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/39169

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UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering Department

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Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2015-10-20

Type of Work

journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

Fadaei, Hilda, Aaron Watson, Allen Place, John Connolly, and Upal Ghosh. “Effect of PCB Bioavailability Changes in Sediments on Bioaccumulation in Fish.” Environmental Science & Technology 49, no. 20 (October 20, 2015): 12405–13. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03107.

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

In situ sediment amendment with sorbents such as activated carbon (AC) can effectively reduce the bioavailability of hydrophobic organic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). However, there is limited experimental or modeling assessment of how bioavailability changes in sediments impact bioaccumulation in fish – the primary risk driver for exposure to humans and top predators in the aquatic ecosystem. In the present study we performed laboratory aquarium experiments and modeling to explore how PCB sorption in sediments impacted exposure pathways and bioaccumulation in fish. Results showed that freely dissolved PCBs in porewater and overlying water measured by passive sampling were reduced by more than 95% upon amendment with 4.5% fine granular AC. The amendment also reduced the PCB uptake in fish by 87% after 90 days of exposure. Measured freely dissolved concentrations were incorporated in equilibrium and kinetic models for predicting uptake by fish. Predicted uptake using the kinetic model was generally within a factor of 2 for total PCBs measured in fish. The kinetic model output was most sensitive to overlying water PCBs, lipid fraction, and dissolved oxygen concentration (regulating gill ventilation). Our results indicate that by incorporating changes in freely dissolved PCB concentrations in bioaccumulation models it is possible to predict effectiveness of sediment remediation in reducing PCB uptake in fish.