Seasonality in contaminant accumulation in Arctic marine pelagic food webs using trophic magnification factor as a measure of bioaccumulation

Abstract Seasonality in biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs; polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinated pesticides, and brominated flame retardants) in Arctic marine pelagic food webs was investigated in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Norway. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs; average fac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Main Authors: Hallanger, Ingeborg G., Warner, Nicholas A., Ruus, Anders, Evenset, Anita, Christensen, Guttorm, Herzke, Dorte, Gabrielsen, Geir W., Borgå, Katrine
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011
Subjects:
Climate change
Kongsfjord*
Kongsfjorden
Svalbard
Zooplankton
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.488
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fetc.488
https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.488
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Summary:Abstract Seasonality in biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs; polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinated pesticides, and brominated flame retardants) in Arctic marine pelagic food webs was investigated in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Norway. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs; average factor change in concentration between two trophic levels) were used to measure food web biomagnification in biota in May, July, and October 2007. Pelagic zooplankton (seven species), fish (five species), and seabirds (two species) were included in the study. For most POP compounds, highest TMFs were found in July and lowest were in May. Seasonally changing TMFs were a result of seasonally changing POP concentrations and the δ 15 N‐derived trophic positions of the species included in the food web. These seasonal differences in TMFs were independent of inclusion/exclusion of organisms based on physiology (i.e., warm‐ versus cold‐blooded organisms) in the food web. The higher TMFs in July, when the food web consisted of a higher degree of boreal species, suggest that future warming of the Arctic and increased invasion by boreal species can result in increased food web magnification. Knowledge of the seasonal variation in POP biomagnification is a prerequisite for understanding changes in POP biomagnification caused by climate change. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2011; 30:1026–1035. © 2011 SETAC

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