Author(s)

K. Timmermann, M. Christensen, G. T. Banta & O. Andersen

Abstract

After oil pollution events, oil components as PAH may affect biota of near-coastal sediments for extended time periods, and bioturbation by infaunal organisms may affect the fate of PAHs. Modelling of bioavailability of hydrophobic sediment pollutants to aquatic organisms generally assumes that diffusion from water dominate uptake. This is, however, not necessarily true for sediment ingesting infauna. The lugworm Arenicola marina and [^C-4,5,9,10] pyrene were used in experimental benthic microcosms to study infaunal interactions in distribution and metabolism of the PAH fraction of oil and allow quantification of pyrene and its metabolites including ^CC^, in interstitial and overlying water, sediment and worms. Manipulation of the sedi

Keywords