Congener-specific evaluation of biota-sediment accumulation factor model for HCHs and DDTs under small-scale in situ riverine condition

Purpose

The congener-specific biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) model for hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) was evaluated for four different freshwater fish species (Orienus plagiostomus, Tor putitora, Glyptothorax punjabensis, and Cyprinus carpio) in in situ riverine conditions of Kabul River, Pakistan.

Materials and methods

The congeners of HCH and DDT were quantified using gas chromatograph (GC-ECD). The BSAF for each congener (HCHs and DDTs) was calculated from paired observation of congener’s measured concentrations in fish and sediment taken at the same site. Pearson’s correlation and linear regression analyses were performed to determine the influence of sediment organic carbon fraction (f _soc ) and organism lipid fraction (f _lipid ) on BSAF, and the relationship between BSAFs and logarithm of octanol-water partition coefficients (log K _ows) of HCH and DDT congeners, respectively.

Results and discussion

The BSAFs for total HCH (t-HCH) and total DDT (t-DDT) ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 and from 0.2 to 1.6, respectively. The model was significantly influenced by both fish (p = 0.004) and chemical types (p = 0.002) at 95 % confidence level. The sediment organic carbon fraction (f _soc ) and fish lipid fraction (f _lipid ) had not-too-weak effects on BSAF values for all fish species. The BSAF values were linearly fitted with logarithmic octanol-water partition coefficients (log K _ows) of HCH and DDT congeners, despite the different chemical structures, and different compound class significant negative correlations between log K _ows and BSAF values were found, indicating that hydrophobicity is one of the key factors influencing the bioaccumulation potential of the investigated compounds.

Conclusions

The present study confirmed the applicability of the BSAF model as a screening tool for predicting bioaccumulation of sediment-associated HCH and DDT congeners in investigated fish species under small-scale in situ riverine conditions of Kabul River and suite the model for benthic fish (G. punjabensis) on the basis of the 25th and 75th percentiles of congener-specific BSAF values.