No abstract

This study assessed the relative contributions of aqueous versus dietary uptake of three hydrophobic chemicals, 1,2, 4-trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB), 1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), and 2,2',4,4',6,6'-hexachlorobiphenyl (HCBP). Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed separately to chemically spiked water and food for 4 days and 12 days, respectively. Chemical concentrations were measured in the food, water, and tissues, and this allowed calculation of uptake rate constants (k(1) from water exposure, k(d) from food exposure). The k(1) values for the three test chemicals were approximately five orders of magnitude greater than the k(d) values. Using these measured uptake rate constants, a simulation model was used to predict the relative aqueous versus dietary uptake when fish were exposed simultaneously to water and food contaminated with these hydrophobic chemicals. The model predicted for all three test chemicals that the two uptake routes would contribute equally to the chemical body burden in fish whenever the food:water chemical concentration ratio was near 10(5). However, using food:water chemical concentration ratios that might be expected in nature, the model predicted that gill uptake could account for over 98% of fish body burden for both 1,2,4-TCB and PeCB uptake (log K(ow) values of 3.98 and 5.03, respectively). For HCBP (log K(ow) of 7.55), the model predicted that the dietary uptake could contribute over 85% of the body burden. Thus, depending on the actual food:water chemical concentration ratio, aqueous uptake via the gills can predominate even when the chemicals have a log K(ow) value greater than 5.0. In addition, we confirmed that dietary uptake of hydrophobic xenobiotics increases with increasing log K(ow).

Abstract-We examined the uptake of three hydrophobic chemicals, TCB (1,2,4-trichlorobenzene), PeCB (1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorobenzene), and HCBP (2,2Ј,4,4Ј,6,6Ј-hexachlorobiphenyl), by unfed juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in test aquaria containing sediments from the Fraser River. Our working hypothesis was that the low organic carbon content of the Fraser River sediments would increase the bioavailability of xenobiotics associated with these sediments. The test chemicals and sediments were introduced into aquaria 9 d before the fish were introduced. Measured concentrations of the chemicals in the bottom sediments, suspended sediments, and filtered (0.45 m) water suggested that the test system had reached a quasiequilibrium state by day 9. Subsequently, a 6-d exposure of fish in the test aquaria resulted in a significant accumulation of the test chemicals in the fish tissues and significant reductions in the chemical concentrations of the bottom sediments, suspended sediments, and filtered water. Mass balance analysis suggests that the appearance of HCBP and PeCB in the fish after 6 d could not be accounted for solely by the amount of chemical dissolved in the water at the time when the fish were introduced. A large unaccounted-for fraction of TCB, possibly due to fish metabolism, precluded an accurate mass balance analysis for this chemical. Because chemical uptake in fish with the pharynx plugged (to eliminate the gut uptake route) was similar to that in control fish and because direct access to bottom sediments did not alter chemical uptake, we conclude that hydrophobic chemicals such as PeCB and HCBP associated with suspended sediments from the Fraser River can readily desorb and be taken up across the gill.