- Scheme Bioacumulation, Ecomare
Bioaccumulation
Nutrients, silt particles and toxic materials often stick to each other in water. Organisms take in hazardous materials through their food. The body either accumulates it or excretes it. By storing it, the concentrations of these toxic materials in the body can increase and become greater than in the surrounding environment. This phenomenon is called bioaccumulation. Predators at the end of the food pyramid (seals, predator fish, fish-eating birds, people) can accumulate extremely high concentrations of toxic materials in this manner. Examples of materials which can pile up in this manner in the food pyramids are PCBs, chlorinated paraffins, PAHs, pesticides and heavy metals.
- Food habits determinant for the amount of bio-accumulation
- Bioacumulation of PAHs (Benzo(a)pyrene), Ecomare
In order to study the effects of sea-floor pollution on benthic animals, scientists exposed lugworms, baltic tellins and mussels to sea bottoms polluted with PAHs. The lugworm, which consumes large amounts of sand and mud in search of food, clearly accumulated the most toxins in their bodies during this experiment. The PAH-levels were definitely lower in mussels, which filter seawater. Baltic tellins fell in between. Normally speaking, baltic tellins also filter seawater, but switch to grazing the sea bottom when there is a shortage of food in the water.
A similar link was also found in benthic animals exposed to sea bottoms polluted with PCBs.
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