PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS - PCBs AND DDTs IN FISH FROM DANUBE RIVER AND FROM BLACK SEA, BULGARIA

Mona Stancheva,Lubomir Makedonski,Stanislava Georgieva

doi:10.12955/cbup.v1.57

Mona Stancheva, Lubomir Makedonski + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.12955/cbup.v1.57

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Abstract

Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT residues (DDTs) can still be a problem for the aquatic environment and the human health. PCBs and DDTs were determined in three freshwater fish species: common carp (Cyprinus carpio), catfish (Silurus glanis), pike-perch (Sander lucioperca) and two marine fish: shad (Alosa pontica pontica) and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus). The freshwater fish samples were collected from the Danube River and from Black Sea, Bulgaria in 2010. The POPs were analyzed in order to investigate the presence of PCBs and DDTs in fish species from Danube River and compared the results to the levels in marine fish species from Black Sea. The fifteen congeners of PCBs, p,p’-DDT and its two main metabolites p,p’-DDE and p,p’-DDD were determined by capillary gas chromatography system with mass spectrometry detection. DDTs were the predominant contaminants in investigated species, with the p,p’- DDE contributing to more than 67% to the total DDTs. In freshwater fish concentrations of DDTs were found from 19.2 to 30.3 ng/g ww and PCBs concentrations - from 6.2 to 12.6 ng/g ww. The highest levels of PCBs and DDTs were determined in shad. The levels of DDTs and PCBs were determined lower than those found in similar fish species from other aquatic ecosystems.

Highlights

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organochlorine pesticides, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites DDE and DDD, are compounds classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), capable of remaining in the environment and able to be transported, to accumulate in animal tissues over long periods of time (UNEP 2001)
The predominance of PCB 153 and 138 in marine fish species has been reported by several authors for different coastal areas in the Mediterranean Sea (Naso et al, 2005), in the Adriatic Sea (Bayarri et al, 2001; Perugini et al, 2004) and in Marmara Sea (Coelhan et al, 2006)
PCBs and DDTs were determined in three freshwater fish species - common carp, catfish, pike-perch and two marine fish - shad and grey mullet

Summary

Introduction

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organochlorine pesticides, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites DDE and DDD, are compounds classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), capable of remaining in the environment and able to be transported, to accumulate in animal tissues over long periods of time (UNEP 2001). When released into the environment, POPs may be transported by air or water to areas that are often rather distant from the place of origin (Gouina et al, 2005). The Black Sea receives freshwater inputs from some of the largest rivers in Europe: the Danube, Dniester and Dnieper. There is very little information available on the highly persistent PCBs and DDTs in fish from Danube River (Covaci et al, 2006) and from the Black Sea (Tanabe et al, 1997; Stoichev et al, 2007)

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