Comparison of PCB and DDT Distribution between Water-column and Sediment-dwelling Bivalves in Arcachon Bay, France

Selected PCB congeners and DDT and its degradation products were analysed in various bivalves and sediment from Arcachon Bay, France. The distribution of these compounds is compared between the different species of bivalve. The two classes of bivalve, water column and sediment dwelling can be distinguished by their concentrations and distributions of organic contaminants. Normalisation of concentration to total lipid content reduces the variability of the PCB concentrations, but no correlation is found between organic contaminant concentration and lipid content.