Assessment of Chlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxin and Dibenzofuran Trends in Sediment and Crab Hepatopancreas from Pulp Mill and Harbor Sites Using Multivariate- and Index-Based Approaches

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 36; no. 9; pp. 1869 - 1878
• Main Authors: Yunker, Mark B, Cretney, Walter J, Ikonomou, Michael G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.05.2002
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Benzofurans - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Availability; Brachyura; British Columbia; Canada, British Columbia; Chlorine Compounds; Crustacea; Decapoda; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Exact sciences and technology; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Industrial Waste; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Pollution, environment geology; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analogs & derivatives; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analysis; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Tissue Distribution; Canada; British Columbia; North America; America; INE, Canada, British Columbia; Chemical analysis; Dioxin derivatives; Harbor; Time variation; Coastal zone; Sentinel animal; Crustacea; Marine environment; Trophic chain; Cancer magister; Organochlorine compounds; Chlorine Organic compounds; Qualitative analysis; Ecological recovery; Decapoda; Quantitative analysis; Seawater; Brachyura; Source sink relationship; Sediments; Paper industry; Arthropoda; Environment impact; Trend analysis; Pollution source; Water pollution; Invertebrata; Biological accumulation; Principal component analysis
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es0112893

Mill process changes and source controls instituted in the late 1980s at pulp and paper mills along the British Columbia (BC) coast produced dramatic reductions in both the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and the TEQ (2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalents). Nevertheless, questions remained as to whether the sediments were acting as contaminant sources or sinks, whether crab uptake pathways have stayed the same since the mills ceased producing PCDD/Fs, and whether improvement was faster at some sites than others. To examine the processes governing the changes in PCDD/F composition, PCDD/F sources and compositional trends for the coastal BC sites were interpreted using sediment and crab PCA (principal components analysis) models and two indices based on the three main groups of PCDD/Fs that covary in all PCA models. One index measured the relative inputs of chlorine bleaching PCDFs and PCP (pentachlorophenol)-related PCDDs at each mill and harbor site whereas the other measured the relative inputs of PCP wood preservatives and pulp mill effluents. Results indicated that PCDFs produced during chlorine bleaching accumulate from sediments to crabs more readily than the PCDDs but that the chlorine bleaching TCDFs have generally decreased in importance at all mill sites. In the years just before 1995, little change was observed in either the proportion of toxic 2,3,7,8-chlorinated congeners or the PCDD/F concentrations, and the improvements seemed to have largely ceased by 1995. The lack of change in PCA composition for the harbors provided a further, disturbing indication that ecosystem recovery may have stalled. Results also implied that the main route of PCDD/Fs into crabs shifted from uptake via a pelagic food web incorporating effluent-borne PCDD/Fs associated with suspended particulate matter to uptake via a benthic food web.