Environmental effects of dredging: Trophic transfer and biomagnification potential of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. Technical notes

The terms bioconcentration, bioaccumulation, biomagnification, trophic transfer, and trophic transfer coefficient are defined to avoid confusion, as they have been used inconsistently throughout the literature (Dallinger and others 1987). Bioconcentration is the uptake of a contaminant by aquatic organisms where water is the sole containment source. Bioaccumulation is the uptake of a contaminent from both water and dietary sources. Biomagnification refers to the processes of both bioconcentration and bioaccumulation that result in increased tissue concentrations of a contaminant as it passes through two or more trophic levels (Macek, Petrocelli, and Sleight 1979). Trophic transfer is defined as the transport of contaminants between two trophic levels (that is, prey to predator) (Swartz and Lee 1980). Trophic transfer coefficient (FTC) is the concentration of contaminant in consumer tissue divided by the concentration of contaminant in food sources (that is, preceding trophic level). A TTC is an approximate measure of the potential for a contaminant to biomagnify. Biomagnification occurs when concentrations of a material increase between two or more trophic levels (that is, TTC>1) and is a sub- set of trophic transfer, which refers to any movement of a material between trophic levels (that is, TTC can be greater than or less thanmore » 1). If trophic transfer is determined to be substantially >1, biomagnification is said to occur. If a TTC value is <1%, biomagnification is judged not to take place.« less