Trophodynamics of current use pesticides and ecological relationships in the Bathurst region vegetation‐caribou‐wolf food chain of the Canadian Arctic

• Published in: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
• Main Authors: Morris, Adam D., Muir, Derek C.G., Solomon, Keith R., Teixeira, Camilla, Duric, Mark, Wang, Xiaowa
• Other Authors: Environment Canada, Molson Foundation, Northern Contaminants Program
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Nunavut
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.2634; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fetc.2634; https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.2634

Abstract The bioaccumulation of current use pesticides (CUPs) and stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen were investigated in vegetation‐caribou‐wolf food chain in the Bathurst region (Nunavut, Canada). Volumetric bioconcentration factors (BCF v ) in vegetation were generally greatest for dacthal (10–12) ≥ endosulfan sulfate (10–11) > ß‐endosulfan (>9.0–9.7) ≥ pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB; 8.4–9.6) > α‐endosulfan (8.3–9.3) > chlorpyrifos (8.0–8.7) >chlorothalonil (7.6–8.3). The BCF v values in vegetation were significantly correlated with the logarithm of the octanol–air partition coefficients (log K OA ) of CUPs ( r 2 = 0.90, p = 0.0040), although dacthal was an outlier and not included in this relationship. Most biomagnification factors (BMFs) for CUPs in caribou:diet comparisons were significantly less than 1. Similarly, the majority of wolf:caribou BMFs were either significantly less than 1 or were not statistically greater than 1. Significant trophic magnification factors (TMFs) were all less than 1, indicating that these CUPs exhibit trophic dilution through this terrestrial food chain. The log K OA reasonably predicted bioconcentration in vegetation for most CUPs but was not correlated with BMFs or TMFs in mammals. Our results, along with those of metabolic studies, suggest that mammals actively metabolize these CUPs, limiting their biomagnification potential despite entry into the food chain through effective bioconcentration in vegetation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2014; 33:1956–1966. © 2014 SETAC