Sediment contamination in Lyons Creek East, a tributary of the Niagara River: part I. Assessment of benthic macroinvertebrates.

Sediments in Lyons Creek East (Welland, Ontario), a tributary of the Niagara River and part of the Niagara River Area of Concern, which exceed screening-level environmental-quality criteria for multiple contaminants, were assessed for biological impacts using information from multiple lines of evidence. An initial chemical survey indicated the primary contaminants of concern to be polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), zinc, and p,p'-DDE due to frequent exceedences of sediment guidelines. A subsequent study focused on the chemical composition of sediment, status of benthic invertebrate communities, contaminant bioaccumulation in resident benthos, and sediment toxicity to laboratory-exposed organisms. Chemical and biological conditions in the creek were compared with those in reference creeks using both multivariate (cluster analysis and ordination) and univariate (regression) techniques. Sediment PCBs (≤ 19 µg/g), PAHs (≤ 63 µg/g), and Zn (≤ 7969 µg/g) were increased above the sediment-quality guidelines along most of the creek; however, the upper 1.5 km portion of the creek was the most highly contaminated and therefore the main focus for biological study. Although severe toxicity was evident at several locations in the upper creek, resident benthic communities were minimally affected by sediment contamination. The cause of toxicity was likely related to a combination of stressors, including PCBs, PAHs, and metals. Due to its biomagnifiable nature, bioaccumulation focused on PCBs; concentrations in resident macroinvertebrates were ≤ 2 orders of magnitude greater than those found in reference creeks and were above tissue residue guidelines, indicating a potential risk for consumers of benthos. This risk was not limited to the upper 1.5 km where other effects were seen.

Composition of dioxin-like PCBs in fish: an application for risk assessment.

It is widely accepted that a congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), rather than traditional Aroclor equivalent total PCB analysis, is required for risk assessment. This is based on the fact that environmental processes alter the original distribution of PCB congeners in Aroclors and that toxicity varies considerably among the congeners with dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) generally being among the most toxic. Using the largest known dl-PCB fish dataset, here we present a likely composition of dl-PCBs in fish. In contrast to common perception, we found that the dl-PCB composition is relatively constant (within approximately a factor of 2) regardless of fish species and total PCB level. The abundance of dl-PCBs expressed as a percentage of total PCB (25-75 quartile range) in fish is generally in the order of PCB-118 (3.0-6.2%) > PCB-105 (1.1-2.4%) > PCB-156 (0.39-0.75%) > PCB-167 (0.20-0.43%) > PCB-123 (0.11-0.26%) > PCB-157 (0.09-0.19%) = PCB-114 (0.08-0.18%) > PCB-189 (0.045-0.094%) > PCB-77 (0.018-0.093%) > PCB-126 (0.015-0.036%) > PCB-81 (0.002-0.007%) = PCB-169 (0.001-0.006%). The most toxic dl-PCB congeners PCB-126 and -169 contribute on average only 0.027 and 0.004% of total PCB, respectively. The statistically significant relationships presented between individual di-PCB and total-PCB concentrations can be used as a practical tool to estimate dl-PCBs for risk assessment purposes. A comparison of the dl-PCB pattern presented here with other studies suggests that this dl-PCB composition is applicable to fish from North America and perhaps from other geographical regions throughout the world.