Organochlorine residues in fish and fishery products from the Northwest Atlantic

Abstract

The residues of polycholorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT (p,p′-DDT and its metabolites) were determined in fish collected at various sites off the Atlantic Coast of Canada during 1971 and 1972. The results of analyses of 261 samples representing 29 species of Crustacea, bivalves and finfish, indicated widespread distribution of these contaminants and preferential accumulation in lipid rich specimens. Only fatty specimens of pelagic finfish consistently contained more than 0.1 μg/g of PCB and DDT. Bluefin tuna was the only species with residues frequently in excess of 1 μg/g. No appreciable differences were observed in residue levels of specimens taken during different years or in specimens taken at different sampling sites. A total of 83 samples representing 7 selected tissues and fishery products were also analyzed for PCB and DDT. No residues of lindane, aldrin, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide and methoxychlor, and only very low levels of dieldrin and hexachlorobenzene were present in the 104 samples examined for these residues.