EMCB-ENVIS Node ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

EMCB-ENVIS Centre
Marine Resources Research Institute, 217 Fort Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC 29422, USA).
Bioaccumulation and toxicity of fluoranthene in the estuarine oligochaete
Monopylephorus rubroniveus. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 55(3) (2003),
278-286.
The tolerance of the estuarine oligochaete Monopylephorus rubroniveus to fluoranthene was
characterized both in the presence and absence of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Using waterborne
exposures, the 72-h median lethal concentration (LC50) and median lethal dose (LD50) were 0.7
(95% CI, 0.4–0.8) μg/L and 8.0 (5.6–9.6) μg/g worm dry weight, respectively, in the presence of
UV radiation [UV-A=64.7±1.0 μW/cm 2 (mean±standard deviation)]. In the absence of UV
radiation, little mortality was observed, even at the water solubility limits of fluoranthene
(120.4 μg/L). Mean bioconcentration factors across all treatments was 10,893±2828. Using
sediment exposures, little mortality was observed following 10 days at concentrations as high as
3912 μg fluoranthene/g sediment dry weight in both the presence of UV radiation (UV-
A=108.4±1.3 μW/cm 2 ) and its absence. Bioaccumulation of sediment-associated fluoranthene
was comparatively high and varied little among the five sediment treatments. The results of the
present study demonstrate that M. rubroniveus is (1) sensitive to waterborne fluoranthene in the
presence of UV radiation and (2) highly tolerant of fluoranthene in the presence of sediment,
despite the ability to bioaccumulate fluoranthene to comparatively high levels. These findings
suggest that those environmental factors which could potentially increase their exposure to UV
radiation need to be considered when assessing the overall risk of fluoranthene to M.
rubroniveus.
K. Borgå, M. Poltermann, A. Polder, O. Pavlova, B. Gulliksen, G. W. Gabrielsen, J. U.
Skaare. (Norwegian Polar Institute, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway. Norwegian College of Fishery
Science, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway. Norwegian School of Veterinary
Science, PO Box 8146, N-0033 Oslo, Norway. UNIS, PO Box 156, 9170 Longyearbyen,
Norway. National Veterinary Institute, PO Box 8156 Dep., N-0033 Oslo, Norway).
Influence of diet and sea ice drift on organochlorine bioaccumulation in Arctic iceassociated
amphipods. Environmental Pollution, 117(1) (2002), 47-60.
The drifting sea ice has been suggested as important in the transport and concentration of organic
matter and pollutants in the Arctic. We collected sea ice-associated amphipods in the marginal
ice zone north of Svalbard and in the Fram Strait in September 1998 and 1999 to assess
contaminant accumulation in ice-associated organisms. Organochlorine concentrations increased
from the more herbivorous Apherusa glacialis to the more carnivorous Gammarus wilkitzkii and
the more necrophagous Onisimus spp. The relative contribution of compound classes to the sum
of organochlorines differed between the amphipod families, with a higher relative contribution of
hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in A. glacialis. The composition of the compound classes
HCHs, chlordanes and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) was similar between the
amphipod families, whereas the profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) differed. The
occurrence of organochlorines differed spatially, with higher α-HCH concentrations in
amphipods from the Fram Strait in comparison with amphipods collected north of Svalbard. This
could be related to the sea ice drift route, since sea ice in the Fram Strait had a drift route across
the central Arctic Ocean, while the sea ice north of Svalbard had a western drift route to the
sampling stations. Even though marine invertebrates have direct uptake by passive diffusion of
contaminants across their gills, our results imply that the species' ecology such as diet is
important in the bioaccumulation process of organic pollutants. In addition, the results show that
sea ice drift route influences the concentrations of organochlorine pollutants in ice-associated
organisms.
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