Abstract
Lake Superior's food web was analyzed in 1994 for hydrophobic organochlorine contaminants (OCs) including toxaphene, chlordane and metabolites, hexachlorocyclohexanes, hexachlorobenzene, dieldrin, and polychlorinated biphenyl congeners. Toxaphene was the dominant organochlorine contaminant in the Lake Superior food web, with concentrations 2−15 times higher than total PCBs. Among the biota studied, wet weight toxaphene levels were highest in bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) at 1100 ± 270 ng/g (mean ± 1 standard deviation) and lowest in Mysis relicta (32 ± 804 ng/g). Total PCB concentrations ranged more than a factor of 20 on a wet weight basis but less than a factor of 6 on a lipid weight basis. The lipid content of the organisms explains 81% of the variability in wet weight t-PCB, with trophic position exerting a smaller influence. Using path analysis and regression techniques, the main influence of trophic position on t-PCBs was shown to be due to the concurrent increase in lipid content with trophic position....
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