Bioaccumulation of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls by loaches living in rice paddy fields of Northeast China

The concentrations of 21 organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues and 18 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were measured in two loach species (Misgurnus mohoity and Paramisgurnus dablyanus) and the soils of their inhabiting rice paddies from three typical rice production bases of Northeast China to explore the main factors influencing the bioaccumulation. The concentrations of Sigma(18)PCBs and Sigma(21)OCPs in loaches were determined to be in the ranges of 0.14-0.76 ng g(-1) wet weight (ww) and 1.19 -78.53 ng g(-1) ww, respectively. Most of loaches showed the considerably high contamination levels of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), which accounted for over 97% of the total OCPs. The much lower maximum allowable loach consumption rates (<15 g d(-1)) indicated a high carcinogenic risk that results from the consumption of rice-field loaches. The field biota-soil accumulation factor (BSAF) was calculated as a main measure of bioaccumulation potential. The comparisons of BSAF values and the results of multivariate analysis indicated that habitat specific environmental conditions, mainly the paddy soil contamination levels and average temperature, decisively affected the bioaccumulation of organochlorine contaminants. When the influence of lipid contents was offset, M. mohoity loaches were found to have a higher potential to accumulation PCBs and OCPs than P. claim/anus loaches, while the bioaccumulation potentials did not exhibit significant differences between juvenile and adult loaches and between male and female loaches. The octanol-water partition coefficient (K-OW) was the main chemical factor influencing bioaccumulation potentials. The BSAF values presented an increasing tendency with increasing log K-OW values from 6.0 to approximately 7.0, followed by a decreasing tendency with a continuous increase in log K-OW values. Moreover, loaches exhibited an isomeric-selective bioaccumulation for p,p'-chlorinated DDTs, beta-HCH, delta-HCH, 6-HCH and cis-chlordane. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.