Delineation of PCB uptake pathways in a benthic sea star using a radiolabelled congener

Bruno Danis (1) , Olivier Cotret (2) , Jean-Louis Teyssié (2) , Scott W. Fowler (2) , Paco Bustamante (3) , Michel Warnau (2)

1 LBM - Laboratoire de Biologie Marine
2 IAEA-MEL - Marine Environment Laboratories [Monaco]
3 LBEML - Laboratoire de biologie et environnement marins - LBEM

Asterias rubens, a common sea star in North Sea waters, was selected to study the bioaccumulation of an important polychlorinated biphenyl congener, 14C-labelled PCB#153, from two contrasted sources : sea water and sediments. After 4 weeks of acclimation to laboratory conditions, sea stars were exposed for 34 days to realistic concentrations (30 ng l-1 in sea water and 9.5 ng g-1 DW in sediments) of the contaminant during which time bioaccumulation of PCB#153 was followed in 6 body compartments. Results showed that (1) for each body compartment, PCB uptake kinetics were generally asymptotic and bioaccumulation was far greater when A. rubens was exposed via sea water than via sediments, (2) body wall and podia were the body compartments showing the greatest affinity for the PCB congener making them ideal tissues for biomonitoring purposes, and (3) the concentrations reached in body compartments were in the range of values reported in several field studies. Because radioisotopic techniques are extremely sensitive, they allow taking into account key organs which are sometimes too small for standard analysis of PCBs.

Mots clés: Polychlorinated biphenyls; PCB#153; bioaccumulation; kinetics; Asterias rubens; echinoderm

Domaines: Ecotoxicologie

Bruno Danis, Olivier Cotret, Jean-Louis Teyssié, Scott W. Fowler, Paco Bustamante, et al.. Delineation of PCB uptake pathways in a benthic sea star using a radiolabelled congener. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2003, 253, pp.155-163. ⟨10.3354/meps253155⟩. ⟨hal-00336154⟩