Availability of PAHs in sediments from the Vefsn Fjord, Norway to the rag worm, Nereis virens

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The Vefsn fjord in Northern Norway has received discharges containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for many years, in particular from smelting processes at Elkem Aluminium Mosjøen. Measurements of the availability of PAHs in sediments collected at 3 different points along the Vefsn fjord were made using silicone rubber passive samplers. The results were compared to direct measurements of the accumulation of PAHs by the marine polychaete, Nereis virens experimentally exposed to the contaminated sediments. The sediments were dominated by the 4- (~ 32%), 5- (~ 40%) and 6- (~ 20%) ring PAHs, which is typical of sediments from around aluminium smelters. The 4 to 6–ring compounds accounted for 93, 96 and 85 % of the PAH concentration in N. virens with a higher dominance of the 4 ring compounds (69%) at station 1 while the 5- and 6-ring PAHs dominated at stations 3 and 8 (~ 43% each). Biota sediment accumulation factors measured ranged from 0.01 to 4.6 kg oc per kg lipid with median values of 0.06, 0.04 and 0.01 kg oc per kg lipid at ssampling station 1, 3 and 8 respectively. BSAFs calculated from pore water concentrations agreed better to those measured from the concentrations in the worms, than the theoretical BSAF value of ~ 1.