Bioactive compounds in the aquatic environment: Uptake and loss of DDT and dieldrin by freshwater mussels

Abstract

Freshwater mussels were exposed to several concentrations of DDT [1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl) ethane] and HEOD (1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10-hexachloro-6, 7-epoxy-1, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 7, 8a-octahydro-1, 4-endo-exo-5, 8-dimethanonaphthalene principal component of dieldrin) in natural lake water and in reconstituted distilled water, under continuous flow and constant temperature conditions. The mussels concentrate DDT approximately 2400 fold and HEOD 1200 fold in lake water; they concentrated DDT about 1000 fold in distilled water. The concentration of the insecticide chemicals in the mussels reaches equilibrium with the level in the water faster in lake water than in distilled water and the insecticide chemicals have a shorter half-life in the mussels than in lake water. The half-life of HEOD is 4.7 days in lake water compared to 13.6 days for total DDT residues in lake water. The insecticide chemical residue concentrations are highest in the digestive and reproductive tissue, and lowest in the muscle, mantle, and gill tissues. The residue concentrations are very low in the marsupia (abominal pouch), in the tests made in distilled water, but they are almost as great as those in the digestive-and reproductive tissue, in lake water.