Contamination of PCB congeners in bear lake fish tissues, livers, and brains

Abstract

The concentrations of PCB congeners and DDE in Bear Lake fish tissues, livers, and brains were determined in this study. Three different species of fish — Northern Pike, Walleye, and Bullhead — were examined and 59 congeners were detected. PCB profiles were dominated by congeners 118, 138, 153, and 180. The levels of PCB congeners in fish from Pickeral Lake, an inland lake, were presented for reference purposes. PCB concentrations in Pickeral Lake fish were considerably lower than that in Bear Lake fish, which demonstrated the influence of the Great Lakes in the contamination of tributary streams. Some non‐ortho and mono‐ortho substituted co‐planar congeners were determined in the fish tissues and the toxic equivalent factors were calculated using the factors described by Safe (Safe, 1990). The concentration ratio of lightly ortho‐substituted congeners such as PCB 28 and 52, which were suggested to induce neurotoxicity in humans and animals, to congener 153 was calculated in this study. However, accumulation of lightly ortho‐substituted congeners in fish brains was not observed.