1 the turtle by ogden nash ogden nash the turtle lives 'twixt plated decks which practically...

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1 The Turtle by Ogden Nash The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks Which practically conceal its sex. I think it clever of the turtle In such a fix to be so fertile.

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1

The Turtle by Ogden Nash  

The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks Which practically conceal its sex. I think it clever of the turtle In such a fix to be so fertile.

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Uptake & accumation of POPs in living organisms

Some terms describing the uptake of chemicals by organisms:

Bioconcentration – the increase in concentration of a chemical in an organism compared to that in the medium in which it lives

Bioconcentration factor (BCF) – the ratio of the concentration of a chemical in an organism compared to that in the ambient medium

Bioaccumulation – the processes by which an organism takes up and retains a contaminant through multiple exposure routes

Biomagnification – a series of processes that results in a chemical becoming increasely concentrated at successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or food web.

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Examples of bioconcentration

and biomagnification of DDT in the Lake Kariba ecosystem

The extent of bioconcentration is quantified with the BCF

E.g. DDT in mussels of the

Firth of Clyde (1989) = 300 μg kg-1

DDT in sea water = 1 ng L-1

BCF = 300×10-6 g (1 kg mussels)

1×10-9 g (1 kg water)

= 300 000

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Partitioning of organic solutes between water and soil or sediment

In the aqueous environment, molecules such as POPs distribute themselves between water and solids, whether sediment and suspended solids.

For organic solutes at low concentrations, a reasonable description of this partitioning is given by a modified Freundlich relation:

Cs = KdCaq

where Kd is the distribution coefficient (Kd = Cs / Caq)

Kd depends on: (a) solute, (b) chemical & physical nature of the solid phase, (c) environmental factors such as temperature and ionic strength

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Partitioning of organic solutes between water and soil or sediment

Since Kd depends on multiple, partially defined variables, its actual value is difficult to predict with any accuracy:

Other distribution coefficients are therefore commonly used to quantify how much particulate surfaces will take up an organic solute:

KOW – the octanol-water partition coefficient

KOM – the organic matter-water partition coefficient

These partition coefficients can be related to the distribution coefficient, Kd

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Sorption of organic species by solids in the environment

The distribution of organic species between the solid phase and water depends on some properties of the solid:

1) Mineral components:Exposed surfaces may contain functional groups (such as hydroxyl groups from hydrous oxides and clays) that may form specific interactions with organic solutes

Interactions include dipole-dipole and hydrogen bonding

Interactions with organic solutes are usually weak because adsorption necessarily displaces water molecules

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Sorption of organic species by solids in the environment

Organic solutes generally interact more strongly with organic matter on solids

These include humic material from plant and microbial sources

Organic matter has some polar functional groups but also hydrocarbon regions

Organic solutes have little competition with water for these hydrocarbon sites

Organic solutes can adsorb onto or absorb into these organic areas – hence the term sorption

2) Organic components:

Even small concentrations of organic components on solids typically dominate partitioning of organic solutes from water

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Sorption of organic species by solids in the environment

Since organic solutes interact weakly with mineral surfaces in sediment, CMM is usually small and we can write:

The equilibrium concentration of sorbed solutes, Cs, is then:

Cs = fOM × COM + fMM × CMM

where fOM and fMM are the fractions of organic matter and mineral matter in the soil or sediment, and COM and CMM are the concentrations of the organic solute in each phase

Cs ≈ fOM × COM

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Octanol-water partition coefficient

The octanol-water partition coefficient, KOW, therefore provides a convenient measure of the extent to which a hydrophobic solute will dissolve in water or be sorbed by organic matter.

n-Octanol serves as a useful model for humic-like substances:

- it is an amphiphilic solvent with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic constituents

- it has a similar ability to associate with polar and nonpolar compounds

KOW = CO/Caq

where CO is the equilibrium molar solubility of the solute in n-octanol and Caq is the corresponding solubility in water

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Octanol-water partition coefficientLarge values of KOW indicate that

the solute is strongly associated with the organic matter; small KOW values that the solute favours the aqueous phase

How does KOW relate to bioconcentration?

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KOW and BCFAs we would expect, there is a correlation between KOW and BCF for a

range of persistent organic pollutants:

KOW can therefore be

used to predict the

BCF of a particular

solute

Bioconcentration of a molecule becomes a concern for BCF values above about 10 000

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The Ant by Ogden Nash  

The ant has made himself illustriousThrough constant industry industrious.So what?Would you be calm and placidIf you were full of formic acid?