Occurrence, Bioaccumulation, and Trophic Transfer of Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCPs) in a Marine Food Web from Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea (Eastern China).

Abstract

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are a persistent organic pollutant, and limited information is available on their bioaccumulation and trophic transfer, which would be affected by carbon chain length, chlorine content, and hydrophobicity. In this study, relevant data on SCCPs in water, sediments, and organisms collected from Laizhou Bay were analyzed to investigate the specific distribution of SCCPs and their bioaccumulation and trophic transfer. In water and sediments, the average SCCP concentrations (ΣSCCPs) were 362.23 ± 81.03 ng/L and 609.68 ± 90.28 ng/g d.w., respectively. In 28 species of organisms, the ΣSCCPs varied from 70.05 to 47,244.13 ng/g l.w. (average = 648 ± 7360) and the predominant homologs were C₁₃ (average = 34.91%) and Cl_5-7 (average = 93.13%), differing from those in water (average = C₁₁ 32.75% and average = Cl_5-7 88%) and sediments (average = C₁₃ 31.60% and average = Cl_6-8 87.16%). The logarithm bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of ΣSCCPs were 1.18-2.74 and were positively correlated with the log K_ow. A significant negative linear relationship was observed between biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) and log K_ow. It is suggested that the hydrophobicity may affect the bioaccumulation of SCCPs. SCCPs demonstrated a trophic magnification factor (TMF) ranging from 2.19 to 3.00 (average = 2.51) and exhibited a significant linear correlation with carbon chain length (p < 0.05) and log K_ow values (p < 0.05), suggesting that SCCPs have biomagnification potential in Laizhou Bay that is affected by hydrophobicity and carbon chain length.