Toxic Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Bioaccumulation in Sea Urchins Exposed to Contaminated Sediments

Abstract

The uptake patterns and toxicity of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in the white sea urchin, Lytechinus pictus, on exposure to contaminated sediments were investigated. First-order modeling of uptake of the 10 most abundant PCB congeners or domains (containing more than one coeluting congener) by L. pictus indicated that a 35-d exposure was insufficient to reach steady state. Bioaccumulation of PCBs in sea urchins exhibited substantial difference between field and amended sediments, suggesting that caution must be exercised in sample preparation. Some evidence was observed of dependence of measured biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) on K(ow), indicating that equilibrium partitioning of PCBs may not always be achieved between biota lipid, sediment organic carbon, and water. Survival of L. pictus was unaffected by exposure to field and amended sediments with PCB concentrations varying more than three orders of magnitude. The growth measures (diameter, wt, and gonad wt) were significantly reduced in L. pictus exposed to San Diego Bay ([SDB]; San Diego, CA, USA) sediment, whereas they were relatively unaffected after exposure to amended sediments (with much higher PCB concentrations than SDB sediment) prepared from a New Bedford Harbor (MA, USA) sediment. The toxic effects as measured by the growth rates in L. pictus were likely attributable to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which were elevated in SDB sediment (7.3 microg/g), rather than PCBs.

Presence, distribution, and origins of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina

“…These facts are in excellent agreement with molecular ratios analysis seen on section "ratios". To conclude, similar literature results are found for other industrialized coastal environments, strongly suggesting that pyrogenic PAHs are a dominant signature in urban aquatic environments (Budzinski et al 1997;Zeng et al 1997;Pereira et al 1999;Notar et al 2001;Stout et al 2004).…”

An evaluation of cause‐effect relationships between polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations and sediment toxicity to benthic invertebrates

“…Although PCB and metal concentrations covary at the site, two toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) studies indicated that metals were not important contributors to toxicity [57,58]. In a sediment dilution study, Zeng et al [60] found that New Bedford Harbor sediment containing 15,000 g/g OC of total PCBs inhibited sea urchin growth, whereas no effects were observed at 3,100 g/g OC. The latter study reported a sediment concentration of 304 mg/kg dry weight of total PCBs (ϳ2,500 g/g OC; organic carbon estimated from a sitespecific correlation with total PCBs [59]).…”

Evaluation of polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation patterns in white sea urchins (Lytechinus pictus) using multiple approaches

“…Sea urchin, sediment, and interstitial water samples (three replicates each) were also analyzed at the beginning of the exposure experiment to establish baseline PCB concentrations. The unexposed sea urchins contained no detectable PCBs, and the concentrations of PCBs measured at the beginning and the end of the exposure experiments were not statistically different [16]. Therefore, the results are not reported herein.…”

“…The details of the analytical procedures used in this study were previously described [16] and will be only briefly reviewed here. Sediment samples were extracted three times with methylene chloride using a roller table.…”

“…The objectives of the present study were to determine whether the PCB bioaccumulation patterns in the sea urchins were the same as those observed in the source sediments, determine if the concentration of the contaminants affects bioaccumulation patterns, and identify, if possible, an appropriate model for predicting the bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic contaminants from sediments by benthic marine organisms. To this end, we evaluated the bioaccumulation of PCBs in the white sea urchin (Lytechinus pictus) from amended fieldcontaminated sediments using data derived from a previously reported study [16]. The white sea urchin was selected because it is a common marine epibenthic invertebrate and a voracious omnivore that lives and feeds on virtually any organic matter at the interface between the sediments and the overlying water column.…”