Acquisition of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by pacific chinook salmon: An exploration of various exposure scenarios

• Published in: Integrated environmental assessment and management Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 553 - 562
• Main Author: Hope, Bruce K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-07-2012; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Anadromous fish; Animals; Bioaccumulation; Bioenergetics; Body Burden; Chemical contaminants; Chinook; Contaminants; Energy Metabolism; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Estuaries; Models, Biological; Pacific salmonids; PCB; PCBs; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - pharmacokinetics; Protected species; Public health; Salmon; Salmon - metabolism; Shellfish; Water bodies; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics; Water quality; Water Quality - standards; Oregon; United States > US
• ISSN: 1551-3777; 1551-3793
• DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1280

In 2011, as part of an update to its state water quality standards (WQS) for protection of human health, the State of Oregon adopted a fish consumption rate of 175 g/day for freshwater and estuarine finfish and shellfish, including anadromous species. WQS for the protection of human health whose derivation is based in part on anadromous fish, create the expectation that implementation of these WQS will lead to lower contaminant levels in returning adult fish. Whether this expectation can be met is likely a function of where and when such fish are exposed. Various exposure scenarios have been advanced to explain acquisition of bioaccumulative contaminants by Pacific salmonids. This study examined 16 different scenarios with bioenergetics and toxicokinetic models to identify those where WQS might be effective in reducing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—a representative bioaccumulative contaminant—in returning adult Fall chinook salmon, a representative salmonid. Model estimates of tissue concentrations and body burdens in juveniles and adults were corroborated with observations reported in the literature. Model results suggest that WQS may effect limited (< approximately 2 ×) reductions in PCB levels in adults who were resident in a confined marine water body or who transited a highly contaminated estuary as out‐migrating juveniles. In all other scenarios examined, WQS would have little effect on PCB levels in returning adults. Although the results of any modeling study must be interpreted with caution and are not necessarily applicable to all salmonid species, they do suggest that the ability of WQS to meet the expectation of reducing contaminant loadings in anadromous species is limited. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012; 8: 553–562. © 2012 SETAC