Bioaccumulation Kinetics of Brominated Flame Retardants (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) in Blue Mussels (Mytilus Edulis)

Abstract

Baltic Sea blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, IUPAC congeners 47, 99, and 153) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, congeners 31, 52, 77, 118, and 153) in a flow-through experimental setup for 44 d. After the exposure phase, the mussels were allowed to depurate in natural brackish water for 26 d. After analyses, uptake clearance rate coefficients (k u ), depuration rate coefficients (k d ), and bioaccumulation factors (BAF) were calculated. A rapid uptake of all PBDEs and PCBs was observed, especially for PBDE congeners 47 and 99 (k u 120 and 170 L/day/g dry weight, respectively). The depuration rate decreased with increasing hydrophobicity as expected for the PCBs, but for the PBDEs, depuration rate coefficients appeared to be of the same magnitude for all three congeners independently of log K ow . The BAFs obtained for PBDE 47 and PBDE 99 (1.3 ϫ 10 6 and 1.4 ϫ 10 6 ml/g dry weight, respectively) were higher than for all other substances in the study, severalfold higher than for PCBs of similar hydrophobicity. The presented data indicate that the bioaccumulation potential of PBDEs, extensively used as flame retardants, is similar or higher than that of PCBs for filter feeding organisms such as blue mussels.

Effects of settling organic matter on the bioaccumulation of cadmium and BDE-99 by Baltic Sea benthic invertebrates

“…This is relatively high compared to previous studies, e.g. the Baltic blue mussel Mytilus edulis exhibited a BAF of 14 and the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus had a mean BAF of 4.0 for BDE-99 (Gustafsson et al, 1999;Ciparis, 2005). Moreover, when normalized to TOC and lipid content, BSAF values were still relatively high compared to other studies and highest in the algae treatments, with a BSAF up to with 11.4 for Marenzelleria.…”

Effect of Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant Effluent on Bioaccumulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in the Recipient Water

“…The BAFs for lowly brominated diphenyl ethers were found to be higher than those of lowly chlorinated biphenyls. Another study also reported higher bioaccumulation of BDEs 47 and 99 in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) than those of PCBs (except for BDE-153) (32).…”

Changes in antitoxic defense systems of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex exposed to BDE-47 and BDE-99

“…Unfortunately, the release of PBDEs in ecosystems continues due to their presence in products currently in use and new products manufactured using recycled PBDE-containing material (La Guardia et al 2006). It has been shown that PBDEs, especially BDE-47 and BDE-99 congeners, bioaccumulated in several aquatic organisms such as fish or bivalves (Gustafsson et al 1999;Lema et al 2007;, but also amphipod (Tlili et al 2012;Gismondi and Thomé 2014;Lebrun et al 2014). Despite these observations, only few studies have investigated PBDEs toxic effects on invertebrates.…”