Development of a food web model to develop sediment target levels for selected persistent organic pollutants in Burrard Inlet

This study reports the development and testing of a computer simulation model of the fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Burrard Inlet. POPs are introduced into Burrard Inlet by a number of sources including both, point sources and non-point sources. Once introduced to the inlet, contaminants are subject to physical, chemical and biological processes that lead to dispersion and accumulation in different matrices of the marine environment. The main purpose of the model is to provide a comprehensive ecosystem-level assessment of the fate of contaminants in Burrard Inlet to characterize the relationship between concentrations of POPs in sediments and organisms of Burrard Inlet food-web. The results provided significant evidence of bioaccumulation of a PCB mixture in some key biological receptors in the food web and also include recommendations for the development of sediment target levels and loading for PCBs in support management decisions regarding POPs in Burrard Inlet