Current‐use pesticides in seawater and their bioaccumulation in polar bear–ringed seal food chains of the Canadian Arctic

Abstract

The distribution of current-use pesticides (CUPs) in seawater and their trophodynamics were investigated in 3 Canadian Arctic marine food chains. The greatest ranges of dissolved-phase concentrations in seawater for each CUP were endosulfan sulfate (less than method detection limit (MDL) to 19 pg L(-1) ) > dacthal (0.76-15 pg L(-1) ) > chlorpyrifos (less than MDL to 8.1 pg L(-1) ) > pentachloronitrobenzene (less than MDL to 2.6 pg L(-1) ) > α-endosulfan (0.20-2.3 pg L(-1) ). Bioaccumulation factors (BAFs, water-respiring organisms) were greatest in plankton, including chlorothalonil (log BAF = 7.4 ± 7.1 L kg(-1) , mean ± standard error), chlorpyrifos (log BAF = 6.9 ± 6.7 L kg(-1) ), and α-endosulfan (log BAF = 6.5 ± 6.0 L kg(-1) ). The largest biomagnification factors (BMFs) were found for dacthal in the capelin:plankton trophic relationship (BMF = 13 ± 5.0) at Cumberland Sound (Nunvavut), and for β-endosulfan (BMF = 16 ± 4.9) and α-endosulfan (BMF = 9.3 ± 2.8) in the polar bear-ringed seal relationship at Barrow and Rae Strait (NU), respectively. Concentrations of endosulfan sulfate exhibited trophic magnification (increasing concentrations with increasing trophic level) in the poikilothermic portion of the food web (trophic magnification factor = 1.4), but all of the CUPs underwent trophic dilution in the marine mammal food web, despite some trophic level-specific biomagnification. Together, these observations are most likely indicative of metabolism of these CUPs in mammals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1695-1707. © 2016 SETAC.