Multidecadal Field Data Support Intimate Links between Phytoplankton Dynamics and PCB Concentrations in Marine Sediments and Biota.

We analyzed three decades of field observations in the North Sea with additive models to infer spatiotemporal trends of chlorophyll a concentration, sediment organic carbon content, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations in mussels and sediments. By doing so, we separated long-term changes in PCB concentrations from seasonal variability. Using the inferred seasonal variability, we demonstrated that phytoplankton blooms in spring and autumn correspond to the annual maxima of the organic carbon content (r = 0.56; p = 0.004) and the PCB concentrations in sediments (r = 0.57; p = 0.004). Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between the PCB concentrations in sediments and in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis; r = -0.33, p = 0.012), which is probably related to the cleansing of the dissolved PCB phase driven by sinking organic matter during phytoplankton blooms and the filter-feeding behavior of the blue mussel. The present research demonstrates the role of seasonal phytoplankton dynamics in the environmental fate of PCBs at large spatiotemporal scales.

[1]  I. Belkin,et al.  Organic pollutants and ocean fronts across the Atlantic Ocean: A review , 2014 .

[2]  Ö. Gustafsson,et al.  Deep water masses and sediments are main compartments for polychlorinated biphenyls in the Arctic Ocean. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[3]  K. Hungerbühler,et al.  Do persistent organic pollutants reach a thermodynamic equilibrium in the global environment? , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  Colin R. Janssen,et al.  Additive modelling reveals spatiotemporal PCBs trends in marine sediments. , 2014, Marine pollution bulletin.

[5]  T. Platt,et al.  The response of phytoplankton to climate variability associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation , 2013 .

[6]  J. Dachs,et al.  The "degradative" and "biological" pumps controls on the atmospheric deposition and sequestration of hexachlorocyclohexanes and hexachlorobenzene in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[7]  P. Ryan,et al.  Long-term decreases in persistent organic pollutants in South African coastal waters detected from beached polyethylene pellets. , 2012, Marine pollution bulletin.

[8]  U. Tillmann,et al.  Effect of Azadinium spinosum on the feeding behaviour and azaspiracid accumulation of Mytilus edulis. , 2012, Aquatic toxicology.

[9]  L. Langone,et al.  Physical and biogeochemical processes controlling particle fluxes variability and carbon export in the Southern Adriatic , 2012 .

[10]  W. Tych,et al.  Temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants: a comparison of different time series models. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[11]  F. Pomati,et al.  Biological pump control of the fate and distribution of hydrophobic organic pollutants in water and plankton. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[12]  N. Yoccoz,et al.  Impacts of climate and feeding conditions on the annual accumulation (1986-2009) of persistent organic pollutants in a terrestrial raptor. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[13]  I. Hussy,et al.  An assessment of persistent organic pollutants in Scottish coastal and offshore marine environments. , 2011, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[14]  J. Dachs,et al.  Persistent organic pollutants in Mediterranean seawater and processes affecting their accumulation in plankton. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  R. Bidigare,et al.  Is there a decline in marine phytoplankton? , 2011, Nature.

[16]  N. Kannan,et al.  Temporal trend, spatial distribution, and terrestrial sources of PBDEs and PCBs in Masan Bay, Korea. , 2010, Marine pollution bulletin.

[17]  A. Sweetman,et al.  Temporal trends and controlling factors for polychlorinated biphenyls in the UK atmosphere (1991-2008). , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  B. Worm,et al.  Global phytoplankton decline over the past century , 2010, Nature.

[19]  Simon J. Wilson,et al.  Temporal trends of legacy POPs in Arctic biota, an update. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[20]  R. Dietz,et al.  Exposure and effects assessment of persistent organohalogen contaminants in arctic wildlife and fish. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[21]  Alain F. Zuur,et al.  A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems , 2010 .

[22]  G. Fischer,et al.  Sinking rates and ballast composition of particles in the Atlantic Ocean: implications for the organic carbon fluxes to the deep ocean , 2009 .

[23]  C. Papucci,et al.  Recent sediment accumulation rates for the Western margin of the Barents Sea , 2008 .

[24]  B. Manly,et al.  Resilience of North Sea phytoplankton spring bloom dynamics: An analysis of long‐term data at Helgoland Roads , 2008 .

[25]  J. Albaigés,et al.  Assessment of the Mediterranean sediments contamination by persistent organic pollutants. , 2007, Environmental pollution.

[26]  J. Pacyna,et al.  Towards a global historical emission inventory for selected PCB congeners--a mass balance approach 3. An update. , 2007, The Science of the total environment.

[27]  J. Dachs,et al.  Oceanic deep water formation as a sink of persistent organic pollutants , 2006 .

[28]  J. Catalán,et al.  Modelling the dynamic air-water-sediment coupled fluxes and occurrence of polychlorinated biphenyls in a high altitude lake. , 2006, Environmental pollution.

[29]  G. Fischer,et al.  Northwest African upwelling and its effect on offshore organic carbon export to the deep sea , 2005 .

[30]  M. Edwards,et al.  Impact of climate change on marine pelagic phenology and trophic mismatch , 2004, Nature.

[31]  K. Jones,et al.  Evidence for dynamic air-water coupling and cycling of persistent organic pollutants over the open Atlantic Ocean. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[32]  H. Hung,et al.  How do climate fluctuations affect persistent organic pollutant distribution in North America? Evidence from a decade of air monitoring. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[33]  K. Jones,et al.  Latitudinal and seasonal capacity of the surface oceans as a reservoir of polychlorinated biphenyls. , 2004, Environmental pollution.

[34]  S. Wood,et al.  GAMs with integrated model selection using penalized regression splines and applications to environmental modelling , 2002 .

[35]  Wendy A. Ockenden,et al.  Oceanic biogeochemical controls on global dynamics of persistent organic pollutants. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[36]  J. Pacyna,et al.  Towards a global historical emission inventory for selected PCB congeners--a mass balance approach. 2. Emissions. , 2002, The Science of the total environment.

[37]  J. Konat,et al.  Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediments of the southern Baltic Sea--trends and fate. , 2001, The Science of the total environment.

[38]  W. Jarman,et al.  The deep-sea as a final global sink of semivolatile persistent organic pollutants? Part I: PCBs in surface and deep-sea dwelling fish of the north and south Atlantic and the Monterey Bay Canyon (California). , 2000, Chemosphere.

[39]  J. Baker,et al.  Coupling of phytoplankton uptake and air-water exchange of persistent organic pollutants , 1999 .

[40]  J. Loch,et al.  Trends in the spatial and temporal distribution of metals (Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb) and organic compounds (PCBs and PAHs) in Dutch coastal zone sediments from 1981 to 1996 : a model case study for Cd and PCBs , 1999 .

[41]  P. Roose,et al.  PCBs in cod (Gadus morhua), flounder (Platichthys flesus), blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) from the Belgian continental shelf: relation to biological parameters and trend analysis. , 1998, Chemosphere.

[42]  C. Duarte,et al.  Biomass distribution in marine planktonic communities , 1997 .

[43]  J. Hurrell,et al.  DECADAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE ASSOCIATED WITH THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION , 1997 .

[44]  E. Foekema,et al.  Comparison of contaminant accumulation in three species of marine invertebrates with different feeding habits , 1997 .

[45]  D. Swackhamer,et al.  A Kinetics Model for Predicting the Accumulation of PCBs in Phytoplankton , 1996 .

[46]  D. B. Nedwell,et al.  Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition , 1993, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[47]  D. Abramowicz,et al.  Factors influencing the rate of polychlorinated biphenyls dechlorination in Hudson River sediments , 1993 .

[48]  M. Altabet,et al.  Seasonal and depth-related changes in the source of sinking particles in the North Atlantic , 1991, Nature.

[49]  J. Carey,et al.  Organochlorine Concentrations in the Plankton of Lakes in Southern Ontario and Their Relationship to Plankton Biomass , 1991 .

[50]  C. Cho,et al.  Elimination of Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) by Rainbow Trout (Salmo gairdneri), and an Examination of its Kinetics in Lake Ontario Salmonids , 1981 .

[51]  J. Colebrook.  Continuous Plankton Records: Seasonal cycles of phytoplankton and copepods in the North Atlantic ocean and the North Sea , 1979 .

[52]  C. Yentsch,et al.  The Estimation of Phytoplankton Production in the Ocean from Chlorophyll and Light Data1 , 1957 .

[53]  D. Oevelen,et al.  Seasonal PCB bioaccumulation in an arctic marine ecosystem: a model analysis incorporating lipid dynamics, food-web productivity and migration. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[54]  J. Mcglade.  12 The North Sea Large Marine Ecosystem , 2002 .

[55]  K. Jones,et al.  Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): state of the science. , 1999, Environmental pollution.

[56]  V. Smetácek.  Role of sinking in diatom life-history cycles: ecological, evolutionary and geological significance , 1985 .

[57]  P. A. Gabbott.  Developmental and Seasonal Metabolic Activities in Marine Molluscs , 1983 .