Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of dioxins in marine copepods and fish

Despite the great concerns about dioxins in the marine environments, the biokinetics and bioaccumulation of these compounds in marine organisms remains little known. Using radioactive tracers the aqueous uptake, dietary assimilation efficiency, and elimination of dioxins were measured in marine phytoplankton, copepods and seabream. The calculated uptake rate constant of dioxins decreased with increasing trophic levels, whereas the dietary assimilation efficiency (AE) was 28.5–57.6% in the copepods and 36.6–70.2% in the fish. The dietary AE was highly dependent on the food concentrations and food type. The elimination rate constant of dioxin in the copepods varied with different exposure pathways as well as food concentration and food type. Biokinetic calculation showed that dietary accumulation was the predominant pathway for dioxin accumulation in marine copepods and fish. Aqueous uptake can be an important pathway only when the bioconcentration of dioxins in the phytoplankton was low.

► Radiotracer was used to quantify the biokinetics of dioxins in a marine food chain.
► Aqueous uptake rate of dioxins decreased with increasing trophic levels.
► Dietary assimilation efficiencies were comparable between the copepods and the fish.
► Both food type and density significantly affected the dietary assimilation of dioxins.
► Diet was the predominant pathway for dioxin accumulation in marine copepods and fish.