Robert J. Ozretich

Predicting bioaccumulation potential: A test of a fugacity-based model

Clams (Macoma nasuta) from an unpolluted site in Yaquina Bay, Oregon were exposed in the laboratory for 28 days to 6 field-contaminated sediments (treatments) which varied widely in concentration of 10 organic pollutants. Mean accumulation factors (AF = (concentration in tissue/lipid, %/100)/(concentration in sediment/total organic carbon, %/100)) of 8 neutral organic compounds (DDE [p,p′], 2,2′,3,5′6-pentachlorobiphenyl, 2,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl, Aroclor® 1254, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b,(k)]fluoranthene) were homogeneous across treatments. Statistically significant differences were detected between some treatment AFs for ODD [p,p′] and benz[a]anthracene, and between some chemicals within treatments (experimentwise a=0.05). Accumulation factors were less than 2 and less variable in highly polluted, organically enriched sediments (total organic carbon > 3.69 ± 0.044%), but sometimes exceeded 2 in clams exposed to surficial (0–2 cm deep) sediments with low pollutant concentration and low organic carbon content (⩽ 0.86 ±0.037%). These results suggest that the AF model may provide reasonable estimates of bioaccumulation potential of hydrophobic neutral organic compounds in organically enriched, polluted sediments.

Accumulation factors for eleven polychlorinated biphenyl congeners

According to the fugacity approach pollutant uptake by an organism is determined by the chemical fugacity differential between the organism and its environment. The Accumulation Factor (AF) is a simple, fugacity-based model which has been shown to be useful for predicting the bioaccumulation potential of hydrophobic neutral organic compounds in sediment dwelling animals. Previously, the constancy of AFs for ten hydrophobic neutral organic compounds were tested by exposing clams (Macoma nasuta) in the laboratory for 28 days to six field-collected sediments varying widely in C{sub S}, TOC, and other chemical and physical characteristics. Sediment and tissue samples from that study were achieved and later analyzed for 11 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners. In this paper the authors report mean and maximum AFs (AF{sub max}) for 11 PCB congeners and test the constancy of the AFs across 5 sediments (treatments) by congener and across the 11 congeners by treatment.

A comparison of interstitial water isolation methods demonstrates centrifugation with aspiration yields reduced losses of organic constituents

Spiked sediment and seawater were used to evaluate the recoveries of neutral organic compounds in interstitial water (IW) separated by centrifugation and sampled using a unique aspiration system. An average recovery of 94%±0.8% (SE, n=116) of ten polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and four chlorinated hydrocarbons was obtained from spiked estuarine IW using the aspiration system. Centrifugation of spiked sediment using the aspiration system recovered significantly higher IW concentrations of acenaphthene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and DOC than did IW filtration, or in situ IW collection by fritted glass, or membrane covered, vessels.

Acute toxicity of butylbenzyl phthalate to shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata).

The Clean Water Act of 1971 directed the Environmental Protection Agency to establish ambient water quality criteria for several classes of elements and compounds, including phthalate esters. Multispecies acute toxicity data are required to develop these criteria. Static bioassay LC50s for butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) for a single species of marine fish based on nominal doses range from 3 mg/L to 440 mg/L. Flow-through bioassays were used in this study of BBP with shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata). Using measured exposure concentrations, 96-hr LC50s averaged 0.51 mg/L. Effects on schooling behavior were found at 0.08 mg/L and coloration at 0.24 mg/L. Coupled with the behavioral changes, reduced brain levels of epinephrine found in surviving fish indicated that the mode of acute toxicity for BBP may be through its effects on the catecholamines of the central adrenergic nervous system.

The acute toxicity of butyl benzyl phthalate to the saltwater fish English sole, Parophrys vetulus.

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A Strategy for Protecting Circulating Seawater Systems from Oil Spills1

ABSTRACT A strategy is described for establishing a simple, inexpensive monitoring program for determining approximate levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in ambient water collected near intake structures of circulating seawater systems. The ambient water is obtained from the depth of intake using a submersible pump, which delivers the sample stream to a dockside partitioning chamber that provides instantaneous grab samples for analysis. A common hand-operated fluorometer equipped for measuring the oil content of a fluid was standardized using a locally-obtained No. 2 marine diesel fuel; oil concentrations in water samples were quantified as Marine Diesel Equivalents (MDE) in parts-per-billion. Surveys conducted along the central Oregon coast following the March 1999 beaching of the drifting freighter New Carissa off Alsea Bay were conducted in that bay, and in Yaquina Bay about 20 km to the north. No evidence of oil contamination from the beached ship was found. The highest MDE levels occurred within the es...