Biotransfer and bioaccumulation of dioxins and furans from soil: chickens as a model for foraging animals.
Chickens were used as a model for foraging animals to examine the bioavailability of all 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs) from soil. Three groups of chickens were exposed through their diet to soil contaminated with PCDD/PCDFs at less than 0.5 pg/g I-TEQ (control group), 42 pg/g I-TEQ (low exposure group), and 460 pg/g I-TEQs (high exposure group). Eggs, tissues, feces and feed were analysed throughout the exposure and depuration period. Daily intake was estimated at 2.5 ng/kg-day for the high and 0.3 ng/kg-day for the low exposure groups. Bioavailability was chlorination-dependent ranging from 80% for tetrachlorinated to less than 10% for octachlorinated congeners. During exposure, tissue distribution was congener-dependent with 5-30% of the intake excreted in the eggs, 7-54% deposited in the adipose and less than 1% present in the liver. On a fat weight basis, the highest concentrations were observed in the liver, implying that mechanisms other than lipid solubility operate in that tissue. Bioconcentration factors and elimination half-lives were also congener- and tissue-dependent. Results from this study indicate that animals foraging on soil contaminated at low ppt PCDD/PCDF levels may bioaccumulate these compounds to unacceptable levels.
Stephens
R D
RD
Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley 94704, USA.
Petreas
M X
MX
Hayward
D G
DG
D000818:Animals; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D001682:Biological Availability; D001711:Biotransformation; D002645:Chickens; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004531:Eggs; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012995:Solubility; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D012989:Soil Pollutants