Persistent organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers in fish from coastal waters off Savannah, GA, USA

Abstract

Contamination profiles of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in six fish species from three selected regions along coastal waters off Savannah, GA, USA. Concentrations of PCBs were predominant (12–493 ng g−1 lw) followed by PBDEs (10–337 ng g−1 lw), OCPs such as DDTs (2.7–153 ng g−1 lw), chlordanes (3.8–34 ng g−1 lw), cyclodienes (<0.1–35 ng g−1 lw), mirex (<0.1–8.6 ng g−1 lw), γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (<0.1–1.4 ng g−1 lw), and hexachlorobenzene (<0.1–0.68 ng g−1 lw). The results indicated no region-specific difference in the contaminants however inter-species as well as intra-species differences were evident. Comparison of DDTs, PCBs, and PBDEs profiles in fish with those from other countries revealed that fish from coastal waters off Savannah contained relatively less concentrations of PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, while PBDE concentrations were comparable or even higher than fish samples from other regions. Polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and chlorinated pesticide tempoal trend data exhibited no increase of contamination levels. The levels of PCBs and chlorinated pesticides in fish from Savannah coastal waters were below the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) established limits for human consumption.