Bioaccumulation of PCBs in burbot (Lota lota L.) after delivery in natural food.
Burbot (Lota lota) caught from Lake Päijänne, Central Finland, were exposed under laboratory conditions to four polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners delivered through diet, and accumulation of congeners to muscle, intestine, gonads, and liver were determined. The selected PCB congeners (PCB18, PCB44, PCB137, and PCB169) were added to intact dead vendace (Coregonus albula) and burbot were fed 5 or 10 contaminated meals (2- and 4-week experiment, respectively). Concentrations of fed congeners were different in the examined tissues. The highest concentrations of all the congeners were found in the livers of burbot. The mean retention efficiencies were 65.0% and 81.7% after 5 and 10 oral doses, respectively. The retention efficiency of the coplanar 169 was lower than those of the other fed congeners. The background organochlorine concentrations of the burbot of this study were compared with the PCB concentrations of burbot caught in the 1970s from Lake Päijänne. These concentrations were compared in order to clarify the PCB load and persistence in a boreal aquatic food web. The total PCB concentration in burbot has not declined during the last decades. The most abundant PCB congeners in the field were PCB138 and PCB153. Residual concentrations of pesticides were also found, especially the DDE, which is a metabolite of DDT.
Finnish Institute of Marine Research, 33, Helsinki, FIN-00931, Finland. jari.paakkonen@fimr.fi
J-P J
JP
Pääkkönen
A-L
AL
Rantalainen
A
A
Karels
A
A
Nikkilä
J
J
Karjalainen
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D048388:Gadiformes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls