Levels of Organochlorines Contaminants on Fish Species from Coastal Area in the Southeastern Brazil

Aldo Pacheco Ferreira

Levels of Organochlorines Contaminants on Fish Species from Coastal Area in the Southeastern Brazil

Aldo Pacheco Ferreira

Center for the Study of Workers Health and Human Ecology, Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (Cesteh/Ensp/Fiocruz). Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480-21.041-210, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

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International Journal of Marine Science, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 26 doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0026
Received: 14 Apr., 2013 Accepted: 15 May, 2013 Published: 20 May, 2013

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Preferred citation for this article:

Ferreira, 2013, Levels of Organochlorines Contaminants on Fish Species from Coastal Area in the Southeastern Brazil, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.3, No.26 201-211 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0026)

Abstract

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Dibenzo-p-Dioxins (PCDDs), Dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are highly lipophilic persistent organochlorines contaminants competent to resist degradation and with the ability to bioaccumulate through the food chain. Concentrations were determined in four species of edible fish from Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: marine catfish ( Genidens genidens ), false herring ( Harengula clupeola ), chere-chere grunt ( Haemulum steidachneri ), and barracuda ( Sphyraena sphyraena ) which were collected in July-August 2012. PCBs and PCDD/Fs and were determined by high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRGC/HRMS) according to the US EPA 1613B, 8290A, and US EPA 1668B methods. The focal objective of the assessment was to obtain information about existing levels of pollutants, having as a consequence the possibility of providing preventive actions for public health, as well as encourage the development of mitigation measures. The concentration of total PCDDs/PCDFs ranged from 0.10105~0.2141 pg-WHO-TEQ/g ww and PCBs ranged from 0.08834~0.62304 pg-WHO-TEQ/g ww. Judging from the European Union regulation limit levels of PCDD/PCDFs and PCDD/PCDFs/PCBs were lower than the criteria in all samples, however it is important to systematize environmental monitoring.

Keywords

PCBs; PCDD/Fs; Fish; Sepetiba Bay; Brazil

Fishes of the Ariidae family (marine catfish), Clupeidae family (false hering, chere-chere grunt), and Sphyraenidae family (barracuda), are widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical waters (Gomes andAraujo, 2004), and in Sepetiba Bay are abundant. These species spawn in open coastal areas in the inner continental shelf, and the juveniles recruit in protected shallow areas, which offer food and shelter against predators. As adults, they move, on a diet and seasonal basis, between open coastal areas and bays, when they become vulnerable to commercial fisheries (Hallwass et al., 2013).

Fish store chemical substances either directly from the surrounding environment or from their diet (Kiviranta et al., 2004; Ben Ameur et al., 2012; Lavandier et al., 2013)

International Journal of Marine Science

• Volume 3

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