Uptake of sediment-bound bioavailable polychlorobiphenyls by benthivorous carp (Cyprinus carpio)

It is unclear whether accumulation of sediment-bound chemicals in benthivorous fish depends on the degree of sequestration in the sediment like it does for invertebrates. Here, we report on the potential of slow and fast desorbing sediment-bound polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) fractions for accumulation in carp (Cyprinus carpio) in lake enclosures treated with different nutrient doses. Routes of PCB uptake were quantitatively evaluated for 15 PCBs (log K-0W range 5.6-7.8) using model analysis. Fast-desorbing PCB fractions in the sediment were defined as the ratio of 6-h Tenax-extractable to (total) Soxhlet-extractable concentrations. These fractions varied between 4 and 22% and did not show a clear trend with log K-0W. However, bioaccumulation of PCBs in carp correlated much better with Tenax-extractable concentrations than with total-extractable concentrations. Nutrient additions in the enclosures had a positive effect on PCB accumulation. Model results show that PCB uptake in carp can be explained from (1) uptake through invertebrate food, (2) uptake from fast-desorbing fractions in ingested sediments, and (3) uptake from water, where PCBs are in partitioning equilibrium with fast-desorbing fractions. The main implication of this research is that fast-desorbing PCB fractions in sediments have great predictive potential for bioaccumulation in benthivorous fish.