Relationship between toxicant transfer kinetic processes and fish oxygen consumption

Three organic compounds of different hydrophobicity, 1,2,4,5-tetrachloroben zene (TeCB), 3,4,5,6-tetrachloroguaiacol (TeCG) and 4,6-dichlorobenzenediol (DBD), were chosen as the test chemicals to carry out a series of investig ations to look at the relationship between toxicant transfer and fish metab olic rate. A significant correlation was found between the toxicant uptake rate constant (k(1)) and fish oxygen consumption, regardless of fish size a nd species. This correlation was improved when fish toxicant body load was expressed on a percent body lipid basis. Similarly, there also existed a si gnificant relationship between the toxicant depuration rate constant (k(2)) and fish oxygen uptake for a range of chemicals with different octanol/wat er partition coefficients (K-ow). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.