Modeling the Partitioning and Bioaccumulation of TCDD and Other HydrophobicOrganic Chemicals in Lake Ontario

摘要

Lake trout and sediment data were used to define the biota-to-sediment ratio(BSR) for hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) in Lake Ontario, including 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The BSRs for bioaccumulative PCDD/PCDFs were found to be approximately two orders of magnitude (i.e., 100x) lower than for other HOCs of similar hydrophobicity. To evaluate this difference, a modeling framework is applied which accounts for the significant processes affecting BSR: bioaccumulation, partitioning, and sediment-water chemical distribution.