An experimental design to probe the interactions of dissolved organic matter and xenobiotics : Bioavailability of pyrene and 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl to Daphnia magna

Experiments were conducted to probe the interactions between natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) and two xenobiotics, and to determine how DOM influences their bioavailability. The experimental set-up, using dialysis bags, was designed to expose test organisms to the same constant concentration of free dissolved chemical, while increasing the concentration of the bound-to-DOM fraction. Daphnia magna S. were exposed to pyrene or 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl in the presence of 0, 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 mg L−1 of a reference riverine humic acid (Suwannee River Humic Acid). The physico-chemical parameters were well constrained in the microcosm, demonstrating its potential usefulness. However bioaccumulation by D. magna showed important variability between replicate treatments, sufficient to mask any trends as a function of DOM concentration. The organic-carbon-normalised partition coefficients (KOC) ranged from 52000 to 92000 L kg−1 for pyrene and from 8200 to 89000 L kg−1 for 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl, with a marked “concentration effect” for the latter compound.