Bioconcentration and trophic transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in aquatic animals from an e-waste dismantling area in East China

Abstract

a Eight aquatic biota species were collected from an e-waste dismantling area in East China to investigate bioconcentration and trophic transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The mean concentrations of PCBs varied widely from 6.01 Â 10 4 to 2.27 Â 10 6 pg per g dry weight (dw). The P 25 PCB concentrations in eels were significantly higher than those in other species. The levels of PCDD/Fs changed from 8.13 pg per g dw in toads to 617 pg per g dw in stone snails. World Health Organization-toxic equivalents (WHO 2005 -TEQs) ranged from 2.57 to 2352 pg WHO-TEQ per g dw with a geometric mean value of 64.7 pg WHO-TEQ per g dw, which greatly exceeded the maximum levels of 4 pg per g ww set by the European Commission. The log-transferred bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of 25 PCB congeners ranged from 1.0 to 6.6, with the highest value for CB-205 in crucian carp and the lowest value for CB-11 in frog. A parabolic correlation was observed between log BCF and log K ow (R 2 ¼ 0.53, p < 0.001), where the maximum value occurred at a log K ow of approximately 7. A similar correlation was also found in the plot of log BCF against the number of chlorine atoms of PCBs (R 2 ¼ 0.57, p < 0.001), indicating that mediumhalogenated congeners of PCBs are more easily accumulated by aquatic biota species. There were no significant correlations between the log-transferred concentrations and trophic levels of aquatic species, suggesting that trophic magnification for PCBs and PCDD/Fs was not observed in this study. Environmental impactE-waste dismantling regions have been the subject of great concern in recent years due to the serious environmental contamination associated with e-waste dismantling activities. As a notorious e-waste recycling area in East China, Taizhou has been a hot spot for persistent organic pollutant (POP) research. The present study was conducted to investigate the bioconcentration and trophic transfer tendencies of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in various aquatic biota species in this ewaste area. The high concentrations of POPs in these species reected the lasting impact of e-waste recycling activities on the local environment over more than three decades. Bioconcentration of PCBs was ubiquitously observed in all the species, and signicant parabolic relationships were found between log BCFs and the number of chlorine atoms of PCB congeners as well as their log K ow s. The present results provided important information about the bioaccumulation tendency of POPs in aquatic biota species.

Risk for animal and human health related to the presence of dioxins and dioxin‐like PCBs in feed and food

“…Several studies have examined uptake of PCDD/Fs and DL‐PCBs in the field, which reflects dietary and aquatic exposure to mixtures of contaminants (Kuehl et al., , ; Servos et al., ; Frakes et al., ; Hellou et al., ; Wu et al., ; Bhavsar et al., ; Berge et al., ; Ruus et al., ; Zhu et al., ). Other studies have been performed in controlled conditions, following aquatic exposure to PCDD/Fs and/or DL‐PCBs (Sijm et al., ; Loonen et al., ; Koponen et al., , ).…”

Levels, Sources and Potential Risks of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Organochlorine Pesticides in Sediments of Qingduizi Bay, China: Does Developing Mariculture Matter?

“…Exogenic organic pollutants tend to accumulate in fatty tissue and are toxic to aquatic organisms because they are lipophilic (Zhu et al, 2015). The evaluation of potential ecotoxicological risks of POPs in estuarine and coastal areas has raised substantial concerns (Tolosa et al, 1995;Yuan et al, 2017).…”

Trophic transfer of hexabromocyclododecane in the terrestrial and aquatic food webs from an e-waste dismantling region in East China

“…Previously, we have paid close attention to the Taizhou e-waste recycling region in East China for many years. 2,[24][25][26][27] In the present study, the terrestrial and aquatic species were collected in this region to investigate the levels and isomer proles of HBCD, and evaluate trophic transfer. This approach allows comparisons of the trophic magnication of HBCD in different ecosystems.…”