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Bioaccumulation Potential of Organic Contaminants in an Arctic Marine Food Web

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Bioaccumulation Potential of Organic Contaminants in an Arctic Marine Food Web BIOACCUMULATION POTENTIAL OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN AN ARCTIC MARINE FOOD WEB Barry C. Kelly MRM. Simon Fraser University, 1999 BSc. Trent University, 1993 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School of Resource and Environmental Management O Barry C. Kelly 2006 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Barry C. Kelly Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: Bioaccumulation Potential of Organic Contaminants in an Arctic Marine Food Web Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Kristina Rothley, Assistant Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management Dr. Frank A.P.C. Gobas, Senior Supervisor, Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management Dr. Michael G. Ikonomou, Supervisor, Adjunct Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management Dr. Margo Moore, Supervisor, Associate Professor, Department of Biology Dr. Peter S. Ross, Supervisor, Ad-junct Professor, School of Resource and ~nvironm&talManagement -- Dr. Leah Bendell-Young, Public Examiner, Associate Professor, Department of Biology Dr. Derek Muir, External Examiner, Senior Research Scientist, National Water Research Institute (NWRI), Environment Canada Date Approved : September 26', 2005 SIMON FRASER UNlVERSlTYl ibra ry DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection, and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada ABSTRACT A chemical's octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) and octanol-air partition coefficient (KOA) are important factors affecting environmental fate and bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). This thesis involved an investigation of various organic chemicals (ranging in Kow and KOA) in a Canadian Arctic marine food web (53" 59' N, 76" 32' W) aimed to (i) determine levels of PCBs, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), dialkyl phthalate esters (DPEs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in organisms by high resolution gas- chromatography/high resolution mass-spectrometry (HRGCIHRMS), (ii) evaluate the extent of chemical biomagnification and (iii) identify relationships between biomagnification and influential physical-chemical properties such as Kow and KOA. The results show that recalcitrant C15-C1, PCBs (e.g., PCB 153 and 180) typically exhibited the greatest biomagnification potential and continue to be present at parts per million levels in Arctic biota, some 30 years post- regulatory action. Predator-prey biomagnification factors (BMFs) of PCB 180 ranged from approximately 11.5 in male ringed seals, 45.7 in male beluga whales and 106.3 in common eider ducks. Relatively polar chemicals such as P-HCH (log Kow =3.8) tetrachlorobenzenes (log Kow = 4.5) and P-endosulfan (log Kow = 3.4) in some cases exhibited substantial biomagnification in seaducks and marine mammals. BMFs of P-HCH ranged from 5.2 in common eider ducks, 26.2 in male ringed seals and 50.5 in male beluga whales. No significant biomagnification of P-HCH was observed in invertebrates and fish, likely due to efficient respiratory elimination via gills to water. Extensive biornagnification of P-HCH in air-breathing animals (birds and marine mammals) is likely due the chemical's high resistance to metabolic transformation and slow respiratory elimination through air-exhalation because of its high KOA,(i.e.,log KOA= 8.9). While DPEs and PBDEs were detected at appreciable levels, they appeared to be biotransformed by organisms, demonstrated by very low BMFs and FWMFs compared to recalcitrant PCBs. Further evidence of biotransformation was supported by the detection of primary metabolites, monoalkyl phthalate esters (MPEs) and hydroxylated and methoxylated brominated, diphenyl ethers (OH- BDEs / MeO-BDEs). Future regulatory initiatives should include chemical KOAand the formation of potentially toxic metabolites as criteria for assessing the bioaccumulation potential of POPs. Keywords: biomagnification, contaminants, POPs, KOA,polybrominated diphenyl ethers, phthalate esters, metabolites, Arctic, marine, food web, beluga whales DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my wife, Laura and daughter, Erin, who help me keep things in perspective and keep me smiling through it all and to my parents Ken and Carol Kelly who have given great support along this long academic journey. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Environment Canada's Northern Ecosystems Initiative (NEI), the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) and the Indian and Northern Affairs Northern Science Training Program (NSTP). Also, I wish to thank Makivik Coroporation, and Dr. Bill Doidge and Dr. Michael Kwan from the Nunavik Research Centre (NvRC) in Kuujjuaq Quebec for coordinating field sampling in E. Hudson Bay. I would also like to thank members of the REM Environmental Toxicology Research Group and staff at the Institute of Ocean Sciences (10s) Regional Dioxin Laboratory (RDL). Special thanks in particular go to Joel Blair, Michael Gibbs and Anne Morin for there extensive work on this project. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Frank Gobas and members of my examining committee, including Dr. Michael Ikonomou, Dr. Peter Ross, Dr. Margo Moore, Dr. Leah Bendell-Young and Dr. Derek Muir for reviewing this thesis and their helpful comments and guidance to strengthen my work. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. Approval ..........................................................................................................................................11 ... Abstract .........................................................................................................................................lu Dedication ......................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ..........................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................x List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................xv List of Appendices .......................................................................................................................xvi ... Glossary .....................................................................................................................................xvm Chapter 1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................1 1.2 Different Classes of Environmental Contaminants................................................................ 2 1.3 Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Canadian Arctic .........................13 1.4 Spatial Trends in Marine Mammals from Canadian coastal waters ....................................16 1.5 Rationale: Towards a science-based approach to toxic substance management ..................19 1.6 Hypothesis and Objectives ...................................................................................................23 1.7 Short Term Objectives .........................................................................................................23 1.8 Long Term Objectives .........................................................................................................24 1.9 Project Design and Methodologies ......................................................................................24
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