A comparison of contaminant dynamics in arctic and temperate fish: A modeling approach

Analysis and modelling of profiles to understand fractionation processes for contaminations with polychlorinated biphenyls observed in fish

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) both continue to spread into the environment and to bioaccumulate from primary urban and industrial sources as well as from secondary sources such as soils and the oceans. Fractions of congeners in PCB mixtures, i.e. PCB profiles, can be used as fingerprints to trace contamination pathways from sources to sinks because PCB mixtures fractionate during transport due to congener specific phase changes and degradation. Using a statistical analysis of a total of 8584 PCB profiles with seven congeners (CB28, CB52, CB101, CB118, CB138, CB153, CB180) for contaminated fish from two international datasets as well as a modelling of profiles, two major fractionation processes related to distinct contamination pathways were identified: (1) A relative enrichment of lighter congeners (CB28, CB52, CB101) in seawater fish due to a predominantly atmospheric transport, whereas freshwater and some coastal fish had higher fractions of heavier congeners (CB138, CB153) because those were mainly contaminated by particle-sorbed PCB from surface runoff. (2) A temperature driven fractionation tended to affect congeners with a medium molecular weight (CB118) as well as the heaviest congeners (CB180), a fractionation process which was conceptually associated with transport of PCB from secondary sources. Specifically, medium chlorinated PCB is sufficiently volatile and persistent for a preferred transport into cooler waters. In warmer climates, only the highest chlorinated congeners are persistent enough to ultimately accumulate in fish. Our analysis and modelling provide a starting point for the development of systems to trace - better than before - sources of PCB contaminations observed in fish.

A weight of evidence approach for bioaccumulation assessment

Bioaccumulation assessments conducted by regulatory agencies worldwide use a variety of methods, types of data, metrics, and categorization criteria. Lines of evidence (LoE) for bioaccumulation assessment can include bioaccumulation metrics such as in vivo bioconcentration factor (BCF) and biomagnification factor (BMF) data measured from standardized laboratory experiments, and field (monitoring) data such as BMFs, bioaccumulation factors (BAFs), and trophic magnification factors (TMFs). In silico predictions from mass-balance models and quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) and a combination of in vitro biotransformation rates and in vitro-in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) models can also be used. The myriad bioaccumulation metrics and categorization criteria and underlying uncertainty in measured or modeled data can make decision-making challenging. A weight of evidence (WoE) approach is recommended to address uncertainty. The Bioaccumulation Assessment Tool (BAT) guides a user through the process of collecting and generating various LoE required for assessing the bioaccumulation of neutral and ionizable organic chemicals in aquatic (water-respiring) and air-breathing organisms. The BAT includes data evaluation templates (DETs) to critically evaluate the reliability of the LoE used in the assessment. The DETs were developed from standardized testing guidance. The approach used in the BAT is consistent with OECD and SETAC WoE principles and facilitates the implementation of chemical policy objectives in chemical assessment and management. The recommended methods are also iterative and tiered, providing pragmatic methods to reduce unnecessary animal testing. General concepts of the BAT are presented and case study applications of the tool for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) are demonstrated. The BAT provides a consistent and transparent WoE framework to address uncertainty in bioaccumulation assessment and is envisaged to evolve with scientific and regulatory developments. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:1235-1253. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Model-based exploration of the variability in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) bioaccumulation factors: The influence of physiology and trophic relationships

Because dietary consumption of fish is often a major vector of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), much effort is directed toward a quantitative understanding of fish bioaccumulation using mechanistic models. However, many such models fail to explicitly consider how uptake and loss rate constants relate to fish physiology. We calculated the bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of hypothetical POPs, with octanol-water partition coefficients ranging from 10^4.5 to 10^8.5 , in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) with a food-web bioaccumulation model that uses bioenergetics to ensure that physiological parameters applied to a species are internally consistent. We modeled fish in 6 Canadian lakes (Great Slave Lake, Lake Ontario, Source Lake, Happy Isle Lake, Lake Opeongo, and Lake Memphremagog) to identify the factors that cause the BAFs of differently sized lake trout to vary between and within lakes. When comparing differently sized lake trout within a lake, larger fish tend to have the highest BAF because they allocate less energy toward growth than smaller fish and have higher activity levels. When comparing fish from different lakes, the model finds that diet composition and prey energy density become important in determining the BAF, in addition to activity and the amount of total energy allocated to growth. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:831-840. © 2019 SETAC.

Development and Evaluation of a Combined Bioenergetics and Organic Chemical Mass-Balance Bioaccumulation Model for Fish

This study describes the development and evaluation of a new bioenergetically balanced bioaccumulation (3B) model for organic chemicals in fish. The 3B model is developed from a large database of routine metabolic (oxygen consumption) rates composed of a range of species, body mass, and temperatures. The chemical uptake and elimination rates of the 3B model are compared against those from three existing bioaccumulation models. A time-variant version of the 3B model is evaluated against measured concentrations of five polychlorinated biphenyls in different-size fish depurated over the course of a year, during which water temperature changed by 22 °C. The "generic" species 3B model predicts fish concentrations to within a factor of 3 of the measured data for the majority of observations ( n = 438) and outperforms a previously published "species-specific" bioenergetics model. Bioenergetics aspects of the 3B model are further evaluated by comparing predicted feeding rates and growth rates to measured rates obtained from diverse laboratory conditions ( n 572). While bioenergetics performance is acceptable, the 3B model seems to generally perform better when ingestion rates are calculated from growth rates rather than vice versa. For field applications, parametrization of the activity multiplier remains a key uncertainty underlying the bioenergetics calculations.

A population-based simultaneous fugacity model design for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) transport in an aquatic system

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The extended model adopts a population-based design. Treat each organism as a compartment and estimate the PCB mass based on biota population.

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Establish PCB exchange routes between organisms and the environment, especially the feedback processes from the organism to the environment.

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Predict PCB distribution under both the steady state and the dynamic scenarios.

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Yielding a more realistic simulation among organisms and the environment.

A population-based bioaccumulation fugacity model is designed to simulate the continuous and dynamic transport of polychlorinated bisphenols (PCBs) in an aquatic environment. The extended model is developed based on a previous fugacity model by Campfens and Mackay. The new model identifies each biotic species as a populated compartment and constructs all the exchange routes between organisms and the environment based on known biological processes. The population-based design could assist to uncover the impacts of organism activities on PCB fate and transport in the ecosystem. The new model utilizes the PCB loading as inputs and calculates the PCB distribution in each biotic and environmental compartment simultaneously.

Modeling the impact of biota on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) fate and transport in Lake Ontario using a population-based multi-compartment fugacity approach

Organisms have long been treated as receptors in exposure studies of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The influences of environmental pollution on organisms are well recognized. However, the impact of biota on PCB transport in an environmental system has not been considered in sufficient detail. In this study, a population-based multi-compartment fugacity model is developed by reconfiguring the organisms as populated compartments and reconstructing all the exchange processes between the organism compartments and environmental compartments, especially the previously ignored feedback routes from biota to the environment. We evaluate the model performance by simulating the PCB concentration distribution in Lake Ontario using published loading records. The lake system is divided into three environment compartments (air, water, and sediment) and several organism groups according to the dominant local biotic species. The comparison indicates that the simulated results are well-matched by a list of published field measurements from different years. We identify a new process, called Facilitated Biotic Intermedia Transport (FBIT), to describe the enhanced pollution transport that occurs between environmental media and organisms. As the hydrophobicity of PCB congener increases, the organism population exerts greater influence on PCB mass flows. In a high biomass scenario, the model simulation indicates significant FBIT effects and biotic storage effects with hydrophobic PCB congeners, which also lead to significant shifts in systemic contaminant exchange rates between organisms and the environment.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as sentinels for the elucidation of Arctic environmental change processes: a comprehensive review combined with ArcRisk project results

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be used as chemical sentinels for the assessment of anthropogenic influences on Arctic environmental change. We present an overview of studies on PCBs in the Arctic and combine these with the findings from ArcRisk-a major European Union-funded project aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the transport of contaminants to and their behaviour of in the Arctic-to provide a case study on the behaviour and impact of PCBs over time in the Arctic. PCBs in the Arctic have shown declining trends in the environment over the last few decades. Atmospheric long-range transport from secondary and primary sources is the major input of PCBs to the Arctic region. Modelling of the atmospheric PCB composition and behaviour showed some increases in environmental concentrations in a warmer Arctic, but the general decline in PCB levels is still the most prominent feature. 'Within-Arctic' processing of PCBs will be affected by climate change-related processes such as changing wet deposition. These in turn will influence biological exposure and uptake of PCBs. The pan-Arctic rivers draining large Arctic/sub-Arctic catchments provide a significant source of PCBs to the Arctic Ocean, although changes in hydrology/sediment transport combined with a changing marine environment remain areas of uncertainty with regard to PCB fate. Indirect effects of climate change on human exposure, such as a changing diet will influence and possibly reduce PCB exposure for indigenous peoples. Body burdens of PCBs have declined since the 1980s and are predicted to decline further.

The influence of chemical degradation during dietary exposures to fish on biomagnification factors and bioaccumulation factors

The chemical dietary absorption efficiency (E_D) quantifies the amount of chemical absorbed by an organism relative to the amount of chemical an organism is exposed to following ingestion. In particular, E_D can influence the extent of bioaccumulation and biomagnification for hydrophobic chemicals. A new E_D model is developed to quantify chemical process rates in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The new model is calibrated with critically evaluated measured E_D values (n = 250) for 80 hydrophobic persistent chemicals. The new E_D model is subsequently used to estimate chemical reaction rate constants (k_R) assumed to occur in the lumen of the GIT from experimental dietary exposure tests (n = 255) for 165 chemicals. The new k_R estimates are corroborated with k_R estimates for the same chemicals from the same data derived previously by other methods. The roles of k_R and the biotransformation rate constant (k_B) on biomagnification factors (BMFs) determined under laboratory test conditions and on BMFs and bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) in the environment are examined with the new model. In this regard, differences in lab and field BMFs are highlighted. Recommendations to address uncertainty in E_D and k_R data are provided.

Aquatic ecotoxicological models and their applicability in Arctic regions

Dose-response modeling is one of the most important steps of ecological risk assessment. It requires concentration-effects relationships for the species under consideration. There are very limited studies and experimental data available for the Arctic aquatic species. Lack of toxicity data hinders obtaining dose-response relationships for lethal (LC50 values), sub-lethal and carcinogenic effects. Gaps in toxicity data could be filled using a variety of in-silico ecotoxicological methods. This paper reviews the suitability of such methods for the Arctic scenario. Mechanistic approaches like toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic analysis are found to be better suited for interspecies extrapolation than statistical methods, such as Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure Activity-Activity Relationship, ICE, and other empirical models, such as Haber's law and Ostwald's equation. A novel approach is proposed where the effects of the toxicant exposure are quantified based on the probability of cellular damage and metabolites interactions. This approach recommends modeling cellular damage using a toxicodynamic model and physiology or metabolites interactions using a toxicokinetic model. Together, these models provide more reliable estimates of toxicity in the Arctic aquatic species, which will assist in conducting ecological risk assessment of Arctic environment.

Processes influencing chemical biomagnification and trophic magnification factors in aquatic ecosystems: Implications for chemical hazard and risk assessment

Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) and bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) are widely used in scientific and regulatory programs to assess chemical hazards. There is increasing interest in also using biomagnification factors (BMFs) and trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for this purpose, especially for highly hydrophobic substances that may reach high concentrations in predatory species that occupy high trophic level positions in ecosystems. Measurements of TMFs in specific ecosystems can provide invaluable confirmation that biomagnification or biodilution has occurred across food webs, but their use in a regulatory context can be controversial because of uncertainties related to the reliability of measurements and their regulatory interpretation. The objective of this study is to explore some of the recognized uncertainties and dependencies in field BMFs and TMFs. This is accomplished by compiling a set of three simple food web models (pelagic, demersal and combined pelagic-demersal) consisting of up to seven species to simulate field BMFs and TMFs and to explore their dependences on hydrophobicity (expressed as log KOW), rates of biotransformation and growth, sediment-water fugacity ratios, and extent of food web omnivory and issues that arise when chemical concentration gradients exist in aquatic ecosystems. It is shown that empirical TMFs can be highly sensitive to these factors, thus the use of TMFs in a regulatory context must recognize these sensitivities. It is suggested that simple but realistic evaluative food web models could be used to extend BCF and BAF assessments to include BMFs and TMFs, thus providing a tool to address bioaccumulation hazard and the potential risk of exposures to elevated chemical concentrations in organisms at high trophic levels.

Evaluating the roles of biotransformation, spatial concentration differences, organism home range, and field sampling design on trophic magnification factors

Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) are field-based measurements of the bioaccumulation behavior of chemicals in food-webs. TMFs can provide valuable insights into the bioaccumulation behavior of chemicals. However, bioaccumulation metrics such as TMF may be subject to considerable uncertainty as a consequence of systematic bias and the influence of confounding variables. This study seeks to investigate the role of systematic bias resulting from spatially-variable concentrations in water and sediments and biotransformation rates on the determination of TMF. For this purpose, a multibox food-web bioaccumulation model was developed to account for spatial concentration differences and movement of organisms on chemical concentrations in aquatic biota and TMFs. Model calculated and reported field TMFs showed good agreement for persistent polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and biotransformable phthalate esters (PEs) in a marine aquatic food-web. Model testing showed no systematic bias and good precision in the estimation of the TMF for PCB congeners but an apparent underestimation of model calculated TMFs, relative to reported field TMFs, for PEs. A model sensitivity analysis showed that sampling designs that ignore the presence of concentration gradients may cause systematically biased and misleading TMF values. The model demonstrates that field TMFs are most sensitive to concentration gradients and species migration patterns for substances that are subject to a low degree of biomagnification or trophic dilution. The model is useful in anticipating the effect of spatial concentration gradients on the determination of the TMF; guiding species collection strategies in TMF studies; and interpretation of the results of field bioaccumulation studies in study locations where spatial differences in chemical concentration exist.

Bioaccumulation and human health risk assessment of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides in an apex aquatic predator from a premier conservation area

With the second highest gross domestic product in Africa, South Africa is known to have a high pesticide usage, including the highly persistent and banned group of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). South Africa is also one of few countries to still actively spray DDT as malaria vector control. The aim of the study was to determine the degree to which aquatic biota in selected rivers of the world renowned Kruger National Park (KNP) are exposed to by use of OCPs in the catchments outside the KNP and how this exposure relates to human health. Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) are economically important apex predators and was selected as bioindicator for this study. Fish were sampled from the KNP sections of the Luvuvhu, Letaba and Olifants rivers during the high and low flow periods from 2010 to 2011 within the KNP and 19 OCPs were determined in muscle tissue using GC-ECD techniques. Significant flow related and spatial OCP bioaccumulation was observed. Tigerfish from the Luvuvhu River displayed the highest OCP bioaccumulation. Concentrations of the majority of the OCPs including the DDTs were the highest levels ever recorded from South African freshwater systems and in many cases the concentrations were higher than most contaminated areas from around the world. The concentrations found in H. vittatus muscle also exceeded maximum residue levels in edible fat as set by the European Union. The health risk assessment also demonstrated that the levels of OCPs pose very high cancer risks to the local populations consuming tigerfish, as high as 2 in 10 increased risk factor. This is of concern not only when managing the water resources of the conservation area but also for surrounding communities consuming freshwater fish. Contaminants enter the park from outside the borders and pose potential risks to the mandated conservation of aquatic biota within the KNP.

A tiered assessment framework to evaluate human health risk of contaminated sediment

For sediment contaminated with bioaccumulative pollutants (e.g., PCBs and organochorine pesticides), human consumption of seafood that contain bioaccumulated sediment-derived contaminants is a well-established exposure pathway. Historically, regulation and management of this bioaccumulation pathway has focused on site-specific risk assessment. The state of California (United States) is supporting the development of a consistent and quantitative sediment assessment framework to aid in interpreting a narrative objective to protect human health. The conceptual basis of this framework focuses on 2 key questions: 1) do observed pollutant concentrations in seafood from a given site pose unacceptable health risks to human consumers? and 2) is sediment contamination at a site a significant contributor to seafood contamination? The first question is evaluated by interpreting seafood tissue concentrations at the site, based on health risk calculations. The second question is evaluated by interpreting site-specific sediment chemistry data using a food web bioaccumulation model. The assessment framework includes 3 tiers (screening assessment, site assessment, and refined site assessment), which enables the assessment to match variations in data availability, site complexity, and study objectives. The second and third tiers use a stochastic simulation approach, incorporating information on variability and uncertainty of key parameters, such as seafood contaminant concentration and consumption rate by humans. The framework incorporates site-specific values for sensitive parameters and statewide values for difficult to obtain or less sensitive parameters. The proposed approach advances risk assessment policy by incorporating local data into a consistent region-wide problem formulation, applying best available science in a streamlined fashion.

Global warming and environmental contaminants in aquatic organisms: the need of the etho-toxicology approach

Environmental contaminants are associated with a wide spectrum of pathological effects. Temperature increase affects ambient distribution and toxicity of these chemicals in the water environment, representing a potentially emerging problem for aquatic species with short-, medium- and long-term repercussions on human health through the food chain. We assessed peer-reviewed literature, including primary studies, review articles and organizational reports available. We focused on studies concerning toxicity of environmental pollutants within a global warming scenario. Existing knowledge on the effects that the increase of water temperature in a contaminated situation has on physiological mechanisms of aquatic organisms is presented. Altogether we consider the potential consequences for the human beings due to fish and shellfish consumption. Finally, we propose an etho-toxicological approach to study the effects of toxicants in conditions of thermal increase, using aquatic organisms as experimental models under laboratory controlled conditions.

Persistent organic pollutants in the Scheldt estuary: environmental distribution and bioaccumulation

Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined in the sediment and several species (European flounder, Platichthys flesus; common sole, Solea solea; Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis; shore crab, Carcinus maenas; brown shrimp, Crangon crangon; blue mussel, Mytilus edulis and bristle worms, Polychaeta) from 7 locations in the Scheldt estuary (SE, the Netherlands-Belgium). Overall POP levels in the sediment were low. The average PCB and PBDE concentrations were respectively 31.5 and 115 ng/g dry weight (dw). Highest sediment loads were measured in the vicinity of Antwerp (368 ng PCBs/g dw), a location with intense harbor and industrial activities. Pollution concentrations in the tissues of biota were species-specific. Blue mussels contained the highest lipid concentrations (2.74±0.55%) and reached the highest contamination levels (from 287 to 1688 ng PCBs/g ww, from 2.09 to 12.4 ng PBDEs/g ww). Lowest tissue loads were measured in brown shrimp (from 3.27 to 39.9 ng PCBs/g ww, from 0.05 to 0.47 ng PBDEs/g ww). The PCB congener profile in most of the species was similar with the pattern found in the sediment. PCB 153 was the most abundant congener (16.5-25.7% in biota, 10.4% in sediment). In the sediment, the total amount of PBDEs consisted for more than 99% of BDE 209. Congener BDE 47 had the highest concentrations in all sampled species (38.5-70.1%). Sediment POP loadings and tissue concentrations were poorly correlated, indicating that a simple linear or non-linear relationship is insufficient to describe this relationship, possible caused by the complexity of the bioaccumulation processes and the variability in exposure. Because of the high PCB levels, regular consumption of fish and seafood, especially mussels, from the Scheldt estuary should be avoided.

The bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors for molybdenum in the aquatic environment from natural environmental concentrations up to the toxicity boundary

In a regulatory context, bioaccumulation or bioconcentration factors are used for considering secondary poisoning potential and assessing risks to human health via the food chain. In this paper, literature data on the bioaccumulation of molybdenum in the aquatic organisms are reviewed and assessed for relevance and reliability. The data available in the literature were generated at exposure concentrations below those recommended in the REACH registration dossiers for molybdenum compounds i.e. PNEC(freshwater) 12.7 mg Mo/L. To address possible environmental concerns at regulatorily-relevant molybdenum concentrations, both a field study and a laboratory study were conducted. In the field study, whole body and organ-specific molybdenum levels were evaluated in fish (eel, stickleback, perch, carp bream, roach) held in the discharge water collector tanks of a molybdenum processing plant, containing a mean measured molybdenum level of 1.03 mg Mo/L. In the laboratory study, rainbow trout were exposed to two different nominal molybdenum levels (1.0 and 12.7 mg Mo/L), for 60 days followed by a 60-day depuration period. Whole body concentrations in rainbow trout during the exposure period were between <0.20 and 0.53 mg Mo/L. Muscle tissue molybdenum concentrations in fish taken from both experiments remained below 0.2mg/kg dry wt. These studies show an inverse relationship between exposure concentration and bioconcentration or bioaccumulation factor for molybdenum. In aquatic organisms, and in fish in particular, internal molybdenum concentrations are maintained in the presence of variation in external molybdenum concentrations. These observations must be considered when evaluating potential risks associated with the bioconcentration and/or bioaccumulation of molybdenum in the aquatic environment.

Sensitivity of polar and temperate marine organisms to oil components

Potential contamination of polar regions due to increasing oil exploitation and transportation poses risks to marine species. Risk assessments for polar marine species or ecosystems are mostly based on toxicity data obtained for temperate species. Yet, it is unclear whether toxicity data of temperate organisms are representative for polar species and ecosystems. The present study compared sensitivities of polar and temperate marine species to crude oil, 2-methyl-naphthalene, and naphthalene. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were constructed for polar and temperate species based on acute toxicity data from scientific literature, reports, and databases. Overall, there was a maximum factor of 3 difference in sensitivity to oil and oil components, based on the means of the toxicity data and the hazardous concentrations for 5 and 50% of the species (HC₅ and HC₅₀) as derived from the SSDs. Except for chordates and naphthalene, polar and temperate species sensitivities did not differ significantly. The results are interpreted in the light of physiological characteristics, such as metabolism, lipid fraction, lipid composition, antioxidant levels, and resistance to freezing, that have been suggested to influence the susceptibility of marine species to oil. As a consequence, acute toxicity data obtained for temperate organisms may serve to obtain a first indication of risks in polar regions.

Global climate change and contaminants--an overview of opportunities and priorities for modelling the potential implications for long-term human exposure to organic compounds in the Arctic

This overview seeks to provide context and insight into the relative importance of different aspects related to global climate change for the exposure of Northern residents to organic contaminants. A key objective is to identify, from the perspective of researchers engaged in contaminant fate, transport and bioaccumulation modelling, the most useful research questions with respect to projecting the long-term trends in human exposure. Monitoring studies, modelling results, the magnitude of projected changes and simplified quantitative approaches are used to inform the discussion. Besides the influence of temperature on contaminant amplification and distribution, accumulation of organic contaminants in the Arctic is expected to be particularly sensitive to the reduction/elimination of sea-ice cover and also changes to the frequency and intensity of precipitation events (most notably for substances that are highly susceptible to precipitation scavenging). Changes to key food-web interactions, in particular the introduction of additional trophic levels, have the potential to exert a relatively high influence on contaminant exposure but the likelihood of such changes is difficult to assess. Similarly, changes in primary productivity and dynamics of organic matter in aquatic systems could be influential for very hydrophobic contaminants, but the magnitude of change that may occur is uncertain. Shifts in the amount and location of chemical use and emissions are key considerations, in particular if substances with relatively low long range transport potential are used in closer proximity to, or even within, the Arctic in the future. Temperature-dependent increases in emissions via (re)volatilization from primary and secondary sources outside the Arctic are also important in this regard. An increased frequency of boreal forest fires has relevance for compounds emitted via biomass burning and revolatilization from soil during/after burns but compound-specific analyses are limited by the availability of reliable emission factors. However, potentially more influential for human exposure than changes to the physical environment are changes in human behaviour. This includes the gradual displacement of traditional food items by imported foods from other regions, driven by prey availability and/or consumer preference, but also the possibility of increased exposure to chemicals used in packaging materials and other consumer products, driven by dietary and lifestyle choices.

Simulating climate change-induced alterations in bioaccumulation of organic contaminants in an Arctic marine food web

Climate change is expected to alter environmental distribution of contaminants and their bioaccumulation due to changes in transport, partitioning, carbon pathways, and bioaccumulation process rates. Magnitude and direction of these changes and resulting overall bioaccumulation in food webs is currently not known. The present study investigates and quantifies the effect of climate change in terms of increased temperature and primary production (i.e., concentrations of particulate organic carbon, C(POC)), on bioaccumulation of organic contaminants in biota at various trophic levels. The present study covers only parts of the contaminant behavior that is influenced by climate change, and it was assumed that there were no changes in food web structure and in total air and water concentrations of organic contaminants. Therefore, other climate change-induced effects on net bioaccumulation, such as altered contaminant transport and food web structure, should be addressed in future studies. To determine the effect of climate change, a bioaccumulation model was used on the pelagic marine food web of the Arctic, where climate change is expected to occur fastest and to the largest magnitude. The effect of climate change on model parameters and processes, and on net bioaccumulation, were quantified for three modeling substances (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane [HCH], polychlorinated biphenyl [PCB]-52, and PCB-153) for two possible climate scenarios. In conclusion, increased temperature and C(POC) reduced the overall bioaccumulation of organic contaminants in the Arctic marine food web, with the largest change being for PCB-52 and PCB-153. Reduced bioavailability, due to increased C(POC), was the most influential parameter for the less water soluble compounds. Increase in temperature resulted in an overall reduction in net bioaccumulation.

Organochlorines in the Vaccarès Lagoon trophic web (Biosphere Reserve of Camargue, France)

During a decade (1996-2006), ecotoxicological studies were carried out in biota of the Vaccarès Lagoon (Biosphere Reserve in Rhone Delta, France). A multicontamination was shown at all levels of the trophic web due to a direct bioconcentration of chemical from the medium combined with a food transfer. Here, the pollutants investigated were organochlorines, among which many compounds banned or in the course of prohibition (or restriction) (PCB, lindane, pp'-DDE, dieldrin, aldrin, heptachlor, endosulfan...) and some substances likely still used in the Rhone River basin (diuron, fipronil). The results confirmed the ubiquity of contamination. It proves to be chronic, variable and tends to regress; however contamination levels depend on the trophic compartment. A biomagnification process was showed. A comparison of investigation methods used in other Mediterranean wetlands provides basis of discussion, and demonstrates the urgent need of modelling to assess the ecotoxicological risk in order to improve the management of such protected areas.

Use of a food web model to evaluate the factors responsible for high PCB fish concentrations in Lake Ellasjøen, a high arctic lake

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE

Lake Ellasjøen, located in the Norwegian high arctic, contains the highest concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ever recorded in fish and sediment from high arctic lakes, and concentrations are more than 10 times greater than in nearby Lake Øyangen. These elevated concentrations in Ellasjøen have been previously attributed, in part, to contaminant loadings from seabirds that use Ellasjøen, but not Øyangen, as a resting area. However, other factors, such as food web structure, organism growth rate, weight, lipid content, lake morphology, and nutrient inputs from the seabird guano, also differ between the two systems. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relative influence of these factors as explanatory variables for the higher PCB fish concentrations in Ellasjøen compared with Øyangen, using both a food web model and empirical data.

METHODS

The model is based on previously developed models but parameterized for Lakes Ellasjøen and Øyangen using measured data wherever possible. The model was applied to five representative PCB congeners (PCB 105, 118, 138, 153, and 180) using measured sediment and water concentrations as input data and evaluated with previously collected food web data.

RESULTS

Modeled concentrations are within a factor of two of measured concentrations in 60% and 40% of the cases in Lakes Ellasjøen and Øyangen, respectively, and within a factor of 10 in 100% of the cases in both lakes. In many cases, this is comparable to the variability associated with the data as well as the efficacy of the predictions of other food web model applications.

DISCUSSION

We next used the model to quantify the relative importance of five major differences between Ellasjøen and Øyangen by replacing variables representing each of these factors in the Ellasjøen model with those from Øyangen, in separate simulations. The model predicts that the elevated PCB concentrations in Ellasjøen water and sediment account for 49%-58% of differences in modeled fish PCB concentrations between lakes. These elevated sediment and, to a lesser extent, water concentrations in Ellasjøen are due to PCB loadings from seabird guano. However, sediment-water fugacity ratios of PCBs are consistently greater in Ellasjøen compared with Øyangen, which suggests that internal lake processes also contribute to differences in sediment and water concentrations. We hypothesize that the nutrients associated with guano influence sediment-water fugacity ratios of PCBs by increasing the stock of pelagic algae. As both these algae and the guano settle, their organic carbon content is degraded faster than PCBs, which causes an extra magnification step in Ellasjøen before these detrital particles are consumed by benthic organisms, which are in turn consumed by fish. The model predicts that the remaining approximately 50% of the differences in PCB concentrations observed between the fish of these lakes are due to other subtle differences in their food web structures.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, based on the results of a food web model, we found that the most dominant factors influencing the higher PCB fish concentrations in Lake Ellasjøen compared with Øyangen are the higher sediment and water concentrations in Ellasjøen, caused by seabird guano. Together, sediment and water are predicted to account for 49%-58% of differences in fish concentrations between lakes. Although seabird guano provides a source of nutrients to the lake, in addition to contaminants, empirical data and indirect model results suggest that nutrients are not leading to decreased bioaccumulation, in contrast to what has been observed in temperate, pelagic food webs.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

The results of this study emphasize the importance of considering even small differences in food web structure when comparing bioaccumulation in two lakes; although the food web structures of Ellasjøen and Øyangen differ only slightly, the model predicts that these differences account for most of the remaining approximately 50% of the differences in PCB fish concentrations between the two lakes. This study further demonstrates the utility of food web models as we were able to predict and tease apart the influence of various factors responsible for the elevated concentrations in the fish from Lake Ellasjøen, which would have been difficult using the field data alone.

Development of a multichemical food web model: application to PBDEs in Lake Ellasjoen, Bear Island, Norway

A multichemical food web model has been developed to estimate the biomagnification of interconverting chemicals in aquatic food webs. We extended a fugacity-based food web model for single chemicals to account for reversible and irreversible biotransformation among a parent chemical and transformation products, by simultaneously solving mass balance equations of the chemicals using a matrix solution. The model can be applied to any number of chemicals and organisms or taxonomic groups in a food web. The model was illustratively applied to four PBDE congeners, BDE-47, -99, -100, and -153, in the food web of Lake Ellasjøen, Bear Island, Norway. In Ellasjøen arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), the multichemical model estimated PBDE biotransformation from higher to lower brominated congeners and improved the correspondence between estimated and measured concentrations in comparison to estimates from the single-chemical food web model. The underestimation of BDE-47, even after considering bioformation due to biotransformation of the otherthree congeners, suggests its formation from additional biotransformation pathways not considered in this application. The model estimates approximate values for congener-specific biotransformation half-lives of 5.7,0.8,1.14, and 0.45 years for BDE-47, -99, -100, and -153, respectively, in large arctic char (S. alpinus) of Lake Ellasjøen.