Chemical contaminants in fish species from rivers in the North of Luxembourg: Potential impact on the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra)

Boscher, Aurore; Gobert, Sylvie; Guignard, Cédric; Ziebel, Johanna; L’Hoste, Lionel; Gutleb, Arno C.; Cauchie, Henry‐Michel; Hoffmann, Lucien; Schmidt, Gérard

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2009.12.024

Cited by 61 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Mercury may be higher in muscle samples than in whole body homogenates, but Goldstein et al (1996) found this difference to be usually less than a factor 2. Mercury concentrations tend to increase with age (Boscher et al, 2010) were small (27-120 g), whereas several hundred µg/kg were found in larger (1-2 kg) chub, barbel and eels (Boscher et al, 2010). The data from the present study showed a general increase of mercury concentration with size or estimated age of the individuals for both roach and bleak samples and a generally higher contamination of bleak compared to roach of the same weight or age.…”

Section: Discusssionsupporting

confidence: 59%

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The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers

Jürgens

Johnson

Jones

et al. 2013

Science of The Total Environment

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J. 2013. The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers.Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner.-1 - AbstractSince 2007 about 200 to 300 fish per year (generally roach (rutilus rutilus) but also a few bleak (alburnus alburnus) and eels (anguilla anguilla)) have been collected from a number of English river sites and stored at -80°C to build up a Fish Tissue Archive as a resource for the monitoring of pollutants. Some of the fish from the Fish Tissue Archive from the years 2007-2011 were analyzed for substances in current and proposed European legislation regarding environmental quality standards (EQS) in biota. It was found that mercury exceeded the EU EQS of 20 µg/kg in 79 % of samples with an average and median of 31 and 29 µg/kg. The legacy fungicide hexachlorobenzene (HCB) was below the EQS of 10 µg/kg in all fish analyzed, with a maximum of 6 µg/kg in some eels. The legacy solvent hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) was below the EQS of 55 µg/kg, being < 0.2 µg/kg in all samples where it was measured. The sums of six polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were several orders of magnitude higher than the new proposed 0.0085 µg/kg biota EQS. This study showed that the regular collection and analysis of whole body homogenate samples of relatively small native pelagic fish is suitable for the monitoring of contaminants capable of bioaccumulation. With regard to current or proposed EQS for EU countries, mercury and potentially PBDE in fish are of some concern in these English rivers.-2 - KeywordsEnvironmental quality standards UK fish mercury PBDE hexachlorobenzene priority substances rivers 1 Background and introduction LegislationThe Priority Substances Directive of the EU (Directive 2008/105/EC), which entered into force in January 2009, has the objective of protecting wildlife and humans from harmful effects of chemicals identified as priority substances in surface waters and to monitor trends of these chemicals. It aims to set environmental quality standards (EQS) for a number of chemical pollutants below which no harmful effects are expected to wildlife, or humans. There is an option for member states to set biota, or sediment, standards which offer "at least the same level of protection" as the water standards. For mercury, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), the legislation states that water standards alone do not offer sufficient protection and therefore limits have been set for both water and biota and the legislation specifies that member states which choose not to apply the biota standard should set more stringent levels than those set out in the directive for the water standard. The EQS is set for prey tissue (wet weight) with member states being able to choose "the most appropriate indicator from among...

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Section: Discusssionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Safe levels for mercury in fish in the diet of otters have been proposed between 100 µg/kg and 500 µg/kg (Boscher et al, 2010). These concerns help to explain the relatively low EU 20 µg/kg EQS for Hg in prey with the water limit being 50 ng/L annual average and 70 ng/L maximum.…”

Section: ) Sandheinrich and Wiener (2011) Concluded That The Thrmentioning

confidence: 99%

The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers

Jürgens

Johnson

Jones

et al. 2013

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Fimreite et al (2001) studied a large population of beavers (92 animals) and reported the following cadmium concentrations in their tissues, as compared with our findings (micrograms per gram fresh material, FM): liver-1.03/0.58, kidneys-10.25/7.097, and muscles-0.06-0.043. Similar values were observed in the tissues of fish in northern Luxembourg (Boscher et al 2010) and in the tissues of otters in Hungary (Lanszki et al 2009). The highest concentration of cadmium in the kidneys of herbivorous animals was observed in European beavers captured on the Mulde river in Germany-467 mg/kg dry matter, i.e., 93.4 μg/g fresh tissue weight (Nolet et al 1994).…”

Section: Heavy Metalssupporting

confidence: 65%

Concentrations of heavy metals and PCBs in the tissues of European beavers (Castor fiber) captured in northeastern Poland

et al. 2012

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“…Belpaire et al 2011) and Scotland (Macgregor et al 2010) is based on random sampling and hence results may be regarded as representative for the whole country, this is not the case in many other reports where eel pollution monitoring is focussed on areas known to be polluted, or on specific areas for some other reasons. For example, in Luxembourg, Boscher et al (2007) monitored PCBs and heavy metals in eel in rivers from the North of the country to evaluate potential impact on the otter (Lutra lutra). In Poland, Szlinder-Richert et al (2010) analysed contaminants in eels from the Vistula and Szczecin lagoons in order to estimate eventual risks for human health, while in France PCB monitoring in eel is focussed towards sites known for their high PCB levels in sediment, or sites with professional fisheries (AFSSA 2009).…”

Section: Shortcomings and Future Development Of The Eel Quality Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

The European eel quality database: towards a pan-European monitoring of eel quality

Belpaire

Geeraerts

Evans³

et al. 2011

Environ Monit Assess

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The stocks of the European eel Anguilla anguilla are in decline and there is an increasing awareness that poor health status due to contaminants and/or diseases might be a key element in this decline and might be a hindrance to recovery. Many countries have started compiling data on the health status of eels in their water bodies. Objectives for these monitoring actions are diverse and there is a large amount of information collected by EU member countries. However, this information is widely scattered over Europe in agencies, institutes or universities. As there is a growing need to collect and report on data on the health status of the eel on international level, the Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eels initi- Eel Quality Database to collect recent data of contaminants and diseases over the distribution area of the eel. This paper describes the aim, the set up and future development of the database in order to give it greater publicity and to call on scientists or managers to submit data on eel health status. The database represents now the first comprehensive pan-European compilation of eel health data, including data from over 10,000 eels from approximately 1,200 sites over 14 countries. Preliminary work has indicated a number of shortcomings and future developments will be needed. Guaranteeing further development of the database, harmonisation of methods, quality assurance, and setting up harmonised eel monitoring strategies over Europe will be a great challenge and will need pan-European cooperative work.

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Chemical contaminants in fish species from rivers in the North of Luxembourg: Potential impact on the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra)

Cited by 61 publications

References 38 publications

The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers

The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers

Concentrations of heavy metals and PCBs in the tissues of European beavers (Castor fiber) captured in northeastern Poland

The European eel quality database: towards a pan-European monitoring of eel quality

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