Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Organochlorines in a Marine Food Web at a Pristine Site in Iceland

Abstract

Organochlorine (OC) bioaccumulation and biomagnification were studied in a marine food web at a pristine site in Iceland. The species studied were the gastropod and grazer chink shell (Lacuna vincta), the filter feeding bivalve blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), the predators butterfish (Pholis gunnellus), and the seabird black guillemot (Cepphus grylle), all sampled and analysed in 1996-1997. Individual OC levels were generally low in chink shell and blue mussels, somewhat elevated in the fish, and an order of a magnitude higher in the top predator black guillemot, except for Sigma HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane isomers) and Sigma chlordane levels, which were similar in all organisms, ranging from 10 to 36 ng/g lipid weight (lw). In the molluscs and fish, mean concentrations of Sigma PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) ranged from 111 to 377 ng/g lw, Sigma DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) ranged from 19 to 65 ng/g lw, and HCB (hexachlorobenzene) ranged from 21 to 30 ng/g lw. The levels of same OCs in the black guillemot were on average 2352, 361, and 283 ng/g lw, respectively. The OC tissue concentrations in blue mussel and black guillemot are comparable to levels in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, but OC levels in blue mussel tissue were an order of magnitude lower than found in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The relative composition of OCs were generally similar among species with the PCB congeners emerging as the most abundant compounds with levels an order of magnitude higher than the other compounds in all species. Food web magnification factors (FWMFs) were determined for the OCs by using trophic levels determined from delta(15)N. FWMFs >1, indicating biomagnification, were found for Sigma PCB, penta- or higher chlorinated PCBs (e.g., PCB 101, 118, 138, 153, 180), beta-HCH, HCB, Sigma DDT, p,p-DDE, and transnonachlor. The highest FWMF was observed for PCB 180 at FWMF = 5.8.