Assessing the exposure of Sidi M’Hamed Benali lake (Algeria) to Organo-chlorinated compounds and pesticides in fish

Abstract

Sidi M’Hamed Benali lake (Algeria) is a reservoir used for recreational and fishing purposes that also harbors a rich fauna an flora. These are affected by use of pesticides in view of the increasing anthropogenic activities. In this study, levels of contaminants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybromo-diphényléthers (PBDEs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), and Lin-dane were measured using gas chromatography with electron capture detec-tion and gas chromatography mass spectrometry in four fish species (Cyprinus carpio, Barbus barbus, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Rutilus rutilus) of Sidi M'Hamed Benali lake. The results showed that PCBs, PBDEs and the insecticide Lindane contaminated the studied species but at concentrations, much lower that the guiding values. On the contrary, high levels of pp’DDE (p,p’dichlorodiphényldichloroéthylène) was recorded in all samples with values higher than the Maximum residue limit of 300 ng/g lipid weight (LW.) set by FAO with values as high as 3.87 x 103 ng/g LW (total DDTs) which indi-cated potential hazard not only to human consumers of the lake fishs but also a potential hazard expected to animals that prey on these fishes. 14 ng/g fresh weight (FW.) Canadian limit is also significantly lower than the values of fish from the studied lake (42-46 ng/g FW.). In light of these results, we conclude that this lake is exposed to organic pollution of anthropogenic origin and we encourage caution regarding the consumption of fish in this reservoir. It is time to make serious efforts to mitigate the lake pollution in order to protect aquatic wildlife for sustainable development.

Identification of the Contamination Sources by PCBs Using Multivariate Analyses: The Case Study of the Annaba Bay (Algeria) Basin

“…The unique characteristics of PCBs, including their chemical stability and low water solubility, result in their accumulation in environmental sinks, such as soils and sediments, where they exhibit long half-lives [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. PCBs were historically used in various industrial applications, including heat exchangers, dielectric fluids, pesticides, inks, paints, paper, and plastics, contributing to their widespread distribution in the environment [1,3,5,14,19,20].…”