Comparison of biota-sediment accumulation factors across ecosystems.
Sets of biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) for fish were compared across ecosystems for nonionic organic chemicals. The sets of BSAFs, when plotted against each other, in log-log space, formed linear relationships and demonstrated that the relative scaling or ranking of the individual BSAFs within a set are consistent, if not the same, across ecosystems. This behavior holds for chemicals that either are, or are not, metabolized by fish. These results demonstrate that sets of BSAF values can differ but with parallel shifts in magnitude between ecosystems (for example, all of the BSAFs in the set are uniformly larger in one ecosystem, while in another they all are uniformly smaller) in response to underlying differences in ecosystem conditions and parameters such as trophic level, diet of the organisms, and distribution of the chemical between the sediment and water column.
Burkhard
Lawrence P
LP
Mid-Continent Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota 55804, USA. burkhard.lawrence@epa.gov
Cook
Philip M
PM
Lukasewycz
Marta T
MT
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005618:Fresh Water; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological; D014481:United States; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical