Development and verification of a bioaccumulation model for organic contaminants in benthic invertebrates

A novel nonequilibrium, steady-state model is presented to predict the bioaccumulation of organic chemicals by filter feeding and detritivorous benthic invertebrates. This model accounts for chemical disequilibria between overlying water, diet and sediment, biomagnification, and benthic invertebrate feeding preferences and strategies. The results of a field study of PCB congener bioaccumulation in various benthic invertebrate species in western Lake Erie are reported to verify the model. A comparison of model-predicted and field data demonstrate that the predictability of this model is better than that of the widely used equilibrium partitioning model for assessing bioaccumulation in benthic organisms and for developing sediment quality criteria.