Organochlorine pollutants in fish from the Bulgarian region of the Black Sea

Abstract

Persistent organochlorine pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane residues (DDTs) can still be a problem for the aquatic environment and human health. The levels of DDTs and PCB congeners were determined in fish from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Four fish species with different feeding behaviour, goby (Neogobius cephalargoides), sprat (Sprattus sprattus sulinus), horse mackerel (Trachurus Mediterraneus ponticus) and shad (Alosa pontica pontica) were sampled from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast during 2007-2010. The DDT and PCB residues were measured in clean fish extracts by gas chromatography with mass detection. The main metabolite p,p'-dichloro diphenyl dichloroethylene was the most frequently detected compound in all fish species and was present in much higher concentrations than the other DDTs (ranging from 119.32 to 1,324.44 ng/g fat). PCBs were found in all fish species at concentrations ranging between 135.1 ng/g fat in horse mackerel and 990.8 ng/g fat in goby (calculated as the sum of 15 investigated congeners). The levels of DDTs and PCBs in fish from Bulgarian Black Sea coast were comparable to those found in fish species from the Black Sea and from neighbouring seas (the Marmara Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea).