Fate of anthracene in an artificial stream: a case study

The fate of anthracene, a representative polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, was followed in a large outdoor stream microcosm . The major nonadvective route for the removal of anthracene was photolytic degradation to anthraquinone (half-life 43 min). The anthraquinone also photolyzed rapidly in this shallow stream system. Excluding the plastic channel liner, the sediment acts as the major sink for anthracene, absorbing 0.2% of the 14-day input dose. The periphyton community was the second most important sink, absorbing 0.04% of the input dose. All other compartments were of significantly less importance on a mass basis. Anthracene (11 micrograms liter-1) caused photo-induced 100% mortality of the bluegill sunfish in 9 hr in the upstream reach. Fish at the downstream station survived for approximately 26 hr and all died within 1 hr of each other. Other organisms, clams and dragonfly larvae, started to die off toward the end of the 14-day input period.