Evidence of bioaccumulation of selected persistent organic pollutants in a tropical estuary in southern Puerto Rico.

At the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Puerto Rico historical evidence exists of usage of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In this study, sediment, Avicennia germinans (black mangrove) leaf litter, and whole-body soft tissue of Minuca rapax (fiddler crab) were analyzed to assess trophic transfer mechanisms. Of these pollutants, PCBs were detected in all samples while p,p'-DDE and o,p'-DDT were the most frequently detected OCPs. "Fractionation" is observed for PCBs, where lighter PCBs are more frequently found in both A. germinans and M. rapax while heavier PCBs were detected more in the sediments. Biota-Sediment Accumulation Factors (BSAFs) indicate that there is uptake of p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDT, and lighter PCBs by M. rapax and A. germinans from sediments while Bioaccumulation Factors (BAFs) indicate little bioaccumulation by M. rapax from mangroves. For heavier PCBs, BSAFs suggest that there is uptake by A. germinans but less by M. rapax from sediments while BAFs indicate little uptake by M. rapax from mangroves.