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Current‐use pesticides in seawater and their bioaccumulation in polar bear–ringed seal food chains of the Canadian Arctic
Author(s) -
Morris Adam D.,
Muir Derek C.G.,
Solomon Keith R.,
Letcher Robert J.,
McKinney Melissa A.,
Fisk Aaron T.,
McMeans Bailey C.,
Tomy Gregg T.,
Teixeira Camilla,
Wang Xiaowa,
Duric Mark
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.3427
Subject(s) - biomagnification , trophic level , bioaccumulation , endosulfan , food chain , food web , plankton , environmental chemistry , arctic , chemistry , seawater , ecology , pesticide , biology
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