Role of lipid/water partitioning and membrane composition in the uptake of organochlorine pesticides into a freshwater mussel

The aim of this investigation is to understand the factors influencing uptake of persistent organochlorine pesticides into a freshwater mussel (Sphaerium corneum). Previous work has shown that although a substantial proportion of dieldrin is bound to particulates in the river system, uptake is from the dieldrin in solution. This suggests partitioning of the hydrophobic xenobiotics into membranes as the major route of entry. Membrane composition was established using lipid fractionation into neutral lipids and phospholipids followed by derivatisation to fatty acid methyl esters and estimation using GC/FID. Membrane composition varied with acclimation temperature over the range 5–20°C. Dieldrin concentrations in the mussel at equilibrium with 2000 ng dieldrin/litre water burden were studied at one temperature under laboratory conditions using animals acclimated to different temperatures. Any differences may be explicable in terms of effects of membrane composition on partitioning or other physiological adaptations. To establish which of these factors is most significant a membrane fragment partition system has been analysed in vitro. Preliminary results indicate that although water/lipid partitioning may be important in entry (and exit) of non-polar xenobiotics, significant differences could not be found using current methods. The role of membrane composition and therefore temperature history of the organism may still be significant. The implications of this for attempted correlations between bioaccumulation factors and simple octanol/water partition coefficients are discussed.