Diastereomer-specific bioaccumulation of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in a coastal food web, Western Norway

Summary

The present study reports diastereomer-specific accumulation of HBCD from a point source in five marine species representing a typical food web in a Norwegian coastal area Samples of mussels, polychaetes, crabs and seabird eggs were analyzed for the diastereomers alpha-, beta-, and gamma-HBCD, as well as lipid content and stable isotopes of nitrogen (N-15/N-14) to estimate trophic level Accumulated HBCD did nor correlate well with lipid content for most of the species, thus wet-weight based concentrations were included in an assessment of biomagnification In contrast to beta- and gamma-HBCD, the alpha-diastereomer increased significantly with trophic level, resulting in magnification factors > 1 in this coastal marine ecosystem Data for poikilotherms did not show the same positive correlation between the alpha-diastereomer and trophic position as homeotherms The apparent biomagnification of the alpha-HBCD could be due to bioisomerization or diastereomer-specific elimination that differed between poikilotherms and homeotherms (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved