Bioconcentration of superlipophilic persistent chemicals -Octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) in fish

Geyer, H.J.; Muir, D.C.G.; Scheunert, I.; Steinberg, C.E.W.; Kettrup, A.A.W.

Bioconcentration of superlipophilic persistent chemicals -Octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) in fish

1994

Geyer, H.J. (Gesellschaft fuer Strahlen- und Umweltforschung mbH Muenchen, Neuherberg (Germany)) | Muir, D.C.G. | Scheunert, I. | Steinberg, C.E.W. | Kettrup, A.A.W.

According to present understanding, persistent superlipophilic chemicals - such as octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, octachlorodibenzofuran, Mirex etc - with log K(OW) over 6 and cross sections over 9.5 A, bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms only little from ambient water. The most convincing argument against it is that in bioconcentration experiments with superlipophilic chemicals amounts applied exceeded water solubility by several orders of magnitude. This paper describes various methods for determining bioconcentration factors (BCF) of superlipophilic compounds. As exemplified with octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, BCF values evaluated by these methods match well with those calculated by QSARs for fish and mussels based on log K(OW) and water solubility. As expected, these BCF values exceed previous values by several orders of magnitude. For BCF evaluation of superlipophilic chemicals in aquatic organisms it is recommended: (i) flow-through systems, kinetic method (OECD guideline No. 305 E), (ii) ambient concentrations below water solubility, (iii) during the uptake and especially during the elimination phase no toxic effects of the test organisms should occur.

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