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Lake productivity and water chemistry as governors of the uptake of persistent pollutants in fish

Larsson, Per LU ; Okla, Lennart LU ; Collvin, Lars and Meyer, G. (1992) In Environmental Science & Technology 26(2). p.346-352
Abstract
Factors influencing uptake and levels of persistent pollutants (PCBs, p,p'-DDE) were investigated in 341 northern pike from 61 lakes in southern Scandinavia. Although the inflow of pollutants from the atmosphere was similar throughout the area studied, large differences in levels of PCBs and DDE in predatory fish were found between lakes. The factors primarily responsible for this variation appeared to be lake trophic status and content of humic substances. Levels of persistent pollutants in the fish decreased as productivity increased. Contents of total phosphorus and chlorophyll alpha and lake water transparency (mainly influenced by phytoplankton biomass) were used as productivity indicators. The reasons for the lower levels of... (More)
Factors influencing uptake and levels of persistent pollutants (PCBs, p,p'-DDE) were investigated in 341 northern pike from 61 lakes in southern Scandinavia. Although the inflow of pollutants from the atmosphere was similar throughout the area studied, large differences in levels of PCBs and DDE in predatory fish were found between lakes. The factors primarily responsible for this variation appeared to be lake trophic status and content of humic substances. Levels of persistent pollutants in the fish decreased as productivity increased. Contents of total phosphorus and chlorophyll alpha and lake water transparency (mainly influenced by phytoplankton biomass) were used as productivity indicators. The reasons for the lower levels of pollutants in fish in lakes of increasing productivity were higher growth rate of pike and higher turnover time and sedimentation of particles (phytoplankton) to which the pollutants are adsorbed. Levels of persistent pollutants decreased as the amount of humic substances (water color) increased, apparently because humus adsorbs persistent pollutants, rendering them less available for uptake in fish. The results show that it should be possible to predict levels of persistent pollutants in fish, based on the productivity and chemical properties of the lake. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Environmental Science & Technology
volume
26
issue
2
pages
346 - 352
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:0026614730
ISSN
1520-5851
DOI
10.1021/es00026a016
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d6d4f760-4f3e-4717-852f-421b1476744b (old id 8164297)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:49:27
date last changed
2021-08-29 03:35:45
@article{d6d4f760-4f3e-4717-852f-421b1476744b,
  abstract     = {{Factors influencing uptake and levels of persistent pollutants (PCBs, p,p'-DDE) were investigated in 341 northern pike from 61 lakes in southern Scandinavia. Although the inflow of pollutants from the atmosphere was similar throughout the area studied, large differences in levels of PCBs and DDE in predatory fish were found between lakes. The factors primarily responsible for this variation appeared to be lake trophic status and content of humic substances. Levels of persistent pollutants in the fish decreased as productivity increased. Contents of total phosphorus and chlorophyll alpha and lake water transparency (mainly influenced by phytoplankton biomass) were used as productivity indicators. The reasons for the lower levels of pollutants in fish in lakes of increasing productivity were higher growth rate of pike and higher turnover time and sedimentation of particles (phytoplankton) to which the pollutants are adsorbed. Levels of persistent pollutants decreased as the amount of humic substances (water color) increased, apparently because humus adsorbs persistent pollutants, rendering them less available for uptake in fish. The results show that it should be possible to predict levels of persistent pollutants in fish, based on the productivity and chemical properties of the lake.}},
  author       = {{Larsson, Per and Okla, Lennart and Collvin, Lars and Meyer, G.}},
  issn         = {{1520-5851}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{346--352}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Environmental Science & Technology}},
  title        = {{Lake productivity and water chemistry as governors of the uptake of persistent pollutants in fish}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es00026a016}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/es00026a016}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{1992}},
}