title: Bioaccumulation of mercury and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in salty water organisms.
abstract: Mercury and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) accumulate in organisms through food webs and exert potentially toxic effects on aquatic organisms and humans. This study examined the levels of mercury and PCDD/Fs in organisms and sediment samples collected from a saltwater pond at the An-Shun site, a chloralkali factory that shut down in Tainan City, Taiwan. It was also a pentachlorophenol production plant. After the factories were shut down in the 1980s, mercury and PCDD/Fs contamination remained, posing severe health hazards. The correlation between PCDD/Fs congener accumulation patterns in distinct fish organs and the sediment was evaluated. Mercury and PCDD/Fs levels in all the fish samples exceeded food safety limits, and the concentrations of mercury and PCDD/Fs in each species were closely correlated (n = 12, Spearman's rank correlation [R] = 0.811, p < 0.01). The mercury concentrations were positively but non-significantly correlated with the weight (n = 11, R = 0.741, p < 0.01) and length (n = 11, R = 0.618, p < 0.05) of the species. The fish likely accumulated the contaminants through ingestion of other organisms or the sediment. However, after the pollutants entered a fish, they exhibited distinct accumulation patterns because of their differing chemical properties. Specifically, the mercury concentration was correlated with organism weight and length, whereas the PCDD/Fs concentration was associated with organ lipid content. The study results are valuable for assessing the health risks associated with ingesting mercury- and PCFF/F-contaminated seafood from the study site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.|MWH Americas Inc., Taiwan Branch, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pei-Yu
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. cwliu@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chen-Wuing
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.|MWH Americas Inc., Taiwan Branch, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen-Yao
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000378:metabolism*; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Biota-to-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs); Lipid content; Mercury (Hg); Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs); Trophic level