Survey of Persistent Organochlorine Contaminants (PCDD, PCDF, and PCB) in Fish Collected from the Polish Baltic Fishing Areas

Abstract

Concentrations and congener-specific profiles of PCDDs, PCDFs, dl-PCBs, and ndl-PCBs were determined in five species of edible fish from the Baltic Sea (ICES 24–27): salmon (Salmo salar), Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras), sprat (Sprattus sprattus balticus), sea trout (Salmo trutta m.trutta), and cod (Gadus morhua callarias). Marker PCBs were the dominant compounds (0.07–60.84 ng/g w.w.), followed by dl-PCBs (0.64–6.07 pg WHO-TEQ/g w.w.) and PCDD/PCDFs (0.22–5.67 pg WHO-TEQ w.w). The concentration levels of contaminants varied between species. Salmon possessed the highest concentrations (up to 14.11 ± 2.36 pg WHO-TEQ/g w.w.) and cod the lowest ones (0.84 ± 0.14 pg WHO-TEQ/g w.w.). Congener profile in the fish tested had similar pattern. The largest contribution to the dioxin toxicity was caused successively by PCB 126, 118, 156, furans (2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 2,3,7,8-TCDF), and two dioxins: 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDD. Although the dietary consumption of fish from southwest region of the Baltic Sea did not represent a risk for human health (because of very low consumption of marine fish), the excessive eating of some of them may be of significance importance for health of various subgroups of consumers (fishermen).

Brominated Dioxins: Little-Known New Health Hazards - A Review

“…The trend of a declining cod population (G. morhua callarias) in the Baltic Sea over the last several decades has coincided with its increased contamination and leads us to assume that the cod population may be suffering from AhR-related effects. The assumption can be justified by the extremely high concentrations of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs that have been observed in the liver of this species (25,30). These can also be indicative of a contaminant burden in the gonads as maternal transfer of contaminants to gonads has been documented (5).…”

“…Most organohalogen contaminants released over the years are still present in the aqueous environment and thus are accessible to marine organisms. Elevated concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, and dl-PCBs in some Baltic fish species (salmon, herring, and sprat) have been shown in several surveys in European member states (18,25,30). Recently the contamination profiles of PBDDs and PBDFs were described in the tissue of Baltic wild salmon and compared with chlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans, and PCBs.…”

“…(38). Although concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in the Baltic Sea have been declining in the last decades, they continue to be of concern due to high levels of polychlorinated dioxins and furans, biphenyls and brominated compounds in marine organisms (4,9,18,25,30). Human exposure and the health risk which can result from the consumption of contaminated fish are important issues.…”

Polychlorinated Dibenzo-P-Dioxins (PCDD), Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans (PCDF) and Dioxin-Like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Dl-PCB) in the Baltic and Arctic Fish and the Further Trophic Transfer of these Pollutants to Seabirds

“…on seasonal changes in lipid content connected with physiological cycles (e.g. reproduction), age, feeding habits and the environmental conditions [18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] have been investigating the impact of seasonal changes in the concentrations of halogenated organic compounds in the Baltic salmon, due to the spawning run phenomenon, which remains insufficiently recognized.…”

Levels and sources of PCDDs, PCDFs and dl-PCBs in the water ecosystems of central Poland — A mini review

“…Poland, after signing the Stockholm Convention, is obliged to report data on annual emissions of pollutants, including POPs. Nevertheless, majority of the research has been carried out on food and fish samples [11][12][13]. The results obtained by Lizak et al [14] using high resolution gas chromatography / high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) showed that of 78 samples of examined foodstuffs, in 18 cases concentrations of toxic compounds exceeded acceptable limits [15].…”