Bioconcentration organochlorines

Many of the components of PCB and PBB mixtures are both lipophilic and stable, chemically and biochemically. Similar to the persistent organochlorine insecticides and their stable metabolites, they can undergo strong bioconcentration and bioaccumulation to reach relatively high concentrations in predators. 

Kannan, K., J. Falandysz, N. Yamashita, S. Tanabe, and R. Tatasukawa. 1992. Temporal trends of organochlorine concentrations in cod-liver oil from the southern Baltic proper, 1971-1989. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 24 358-363. Kawano, M., T. Inoue, T. Wada, H. Hidaka, and R. Tatasukawa. 1988. Bioconcentration and residue patterns of chlordane compounds in marine animals invertebrates, fish, mammals, and seabirds. Environ. Sci. Technol. 22 792-797. 

Since diazinon is not a priority pollutant and has not been considered to pose serious threats from bioconcentration or bioaccumulation in fish and shellfish species, it has attracted far less attention in the United States than persistent organochlorines like DDT or chlordane in routine surface water monitoring networks. Carey and Kutz (1985) reported that the maximum diazinon residue collected in a national surface water monitoring program conducted from 1976 to 1980 was 2.38 ppb and that diazinon was detected in only 1.2% of the samples collected. More recently, Pereira and Hostettler (1993) conducted a study of the Mississippi River and its tributaries during 1991 and 1992. These authors reported that... 

Poisoning by endosulfan has caused blindness in sheep. Mirex at high dosage produces cataracts in rats and mice. The DDT analogue known as DDD is selectively concentrated in adrenal tissue, where high levels have an inhibitory effect on corticosteroid synthesis, and a damaging effect on the cells. Certain other organochlorines are also bioconcentrated in the adrenal cortex. 

If the FID brought GC into the realm of characterizing dilute solutions of organics, it was the ECD that allowed it to spark a revolution in the understanding of the threat of bioaccumulation in tissue and bioconcentration up food chains, of lipophilic, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. The classic example of this was the discovery of the threat posed by the organochlorine pesticide DDT, and its subsequent banning. 

---