Abstract
We have reviewed a paper titled “Bioaccumulation of Methyl Siloxanes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and in an Estuarine Food Web in Northeastern China” by Xue et al., which was published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology in 2019. In the paper, the authors presented and discussed the measured bioconcentration factors (BCFs), biomagnification factors (BMFs), and trophic magnification factors (TMFs) of selected volatile methylsiloxanes in Shuangtaizi estuary in China. Although we appreciate their efforts for sample collection and data analysis, we have identified significant errors in calculations of BCFs, TMFs, and BMFs, as well as animal welfare issues and food web trophic level assumptions. Based on the data, we have attempted to correct some of the analysis and offered a more complete and robust interpretation of the related data, when possible. Collectively, these errors would likely lead to very different conclusions than yours in the paper.
Highlights
The results clearly showed that trophic magnification factors (TMFs) of D4, D5, D6, D7, and L7 are less than 1 for FC-01 and FC-03, they are greater than 1 for FC-02
Because there are significant uncertainties around isotopic ratios, representative species, and the food chains proposed by Xue et al (2019), it is recommended to calculate TMFs incorporating uncertainties of food chains and to include all the measurement of biota concentrations which are the outcomes of complex food-webs
Since TMF is basically an average of biomagnification factors (BMFs) of all prey–predator relationships, it is expected that most BMFs are less than one for all volatile methylsiloxanes (VMS) at higher trophic levels
Summary
The paper provided details of analytical methods and quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures, there are significant scientific errors in data analysis. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2020) 78:163–173 and biased selections of datasets to support their hypothesis of significant bioaccumulation of VMS
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