PCBs in dungeness crab reflect distinct source fingerprints among harbor/industrial sites in British Columbia.
Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) samples were collected from various pulp mill and principal harbor sites on the West Coast of Canada. Full congener PCB analysis was performed on several composite and single hepatopancreas samples from each site, and the spatial variability of PCB patterns was explored. A recently developed direct mixing model (DMM) which relies on iteration of representative Aroclor end-members was used to make source predictions based on congener-specific PCB data from biota. Additionally, factor analysis and principal component analysis (FA/PCA) were applied to examine the intersite variability for potential PCB-source patterns. This unsupervised exploratory analysis (i.e., FA/PCA) revealed three distinct clusters of variables containing either low (di-tetra), moderate (penta-hexa), and high (hepta-nona) levels of chlorination, which were related to common Aroclor mixtures (e.g., A1242, A1248, A1254, and A1260). Overall, the PCA scores for each site qualitatively agreed with the source predictions provided by the DMM, and distinct source compositions were predicted for various sites examined.
Ikonomou
Michael G
MG
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. ikonomoum@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Fernandez
Marc P
MP
Knapp
Wayne
W
Sather
Paula
P
D000818:Animals; D003386:Brachyura / Q000737:chemistry*; D001955:British Columbia; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005544:Forecasting; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls