Extensive testing has shown that Kepone is rapidly accumulated by estuarine animals when administered in water or food. Flow-through laboratory experiments with oysters, shrimp, crabs, and fish indicate that the food-chain transfer of Kepone is important in predicting Kepone residues in estuarine organisms. The rates of Kepone movement through estuarine organisms were previously unknown; rates of uptake and depuration by these organisms were determined with a regression model that describes mathematically the uptake and depuration of Kepone by these organisms. The model describes biological data as a single equation, thus allowing variations, due to many physical, chemical, biological, and random-error factors, to be analyzed simultaneously.

The direct application of this model to cautious extrapolation will aid administrative decisions that affect water quality. The rates calculated by this single-species model can be also used in developing models that can predict the long-term fate of Kepone or of other pollutants in an estuarine environment.