Combined sediment desorption and bioconcentration model to predict levels of dioxin-like chemicals in fish

Abstract Flooding and other sediment disturbances can lead to increases in sediment resuspension. In this context, it is of central importance to understand the kinetics of release from these sediments and the uptake of pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), into aquatic organisms. In the present study, we parameterized a sediment desorption model based on experimentally determined rapidly-desorbing fractions of dioxin-like chemicals (DLCs). We coupled this desorption model with a physiologically-based toxicokinetic model for rainbow trout. This combined model was used to predict DLC concentrations in the muscle of exposed fish. The performance of this model was evaluated using a previously published dataset on DLC uptake from sediment suspensions during simulated re-suspension events. Predictions generally differed less than 10-fold from measured values, and the model showed a good global coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.95. The root mean squared error (RMSE) for PCBs was 0.31 log units and 0.53 log units for PCDD/Fs. The results of our study demonstrate that the prediction of bioconcentration and related risk to fish resulting from sediment resuspension can be accurately predicted using coupled desorption and toxicokinetic models.