Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seasonal Trends and Tissue Distribution of Organochlorine Pollutants in Wild and Farmed Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) from the Western Mediterranean Sea and Their Relationship with Environmental and Biological Factors

  • Published:
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Seasonal trends and tissue distribution of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) samples from the Western Mediterranean were investigated. Hexane extracts of white and red muscle, liver, and gills from wild and cultured specimens were purified by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and selected OCPs and PCBs were determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry as indicators of contamination. The limits of detection for the analytical methodology allowed was 0.25 ng/g. Data obtained showed the presence of DDTs and PCBs in the different tissues, with the highest concentration of pollutants being in tissues of higher lipid content. Concentrations of organochlorine compounds in sea bream tissues strongly correlated with seasonal changes and the biological cycle of the species. In general, cultured fish had lower concentrations of contaminants and smaller season variability than wild fish. Trace levels of contaminants were found in fish muscle throughout the year, but always below the guidelines recommended for human consumption.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albaigés J (2005) Persistent organic pollutants in the Mediterranean Sea. In: Saliot A (ed) The Mediterranean Sea. Springer, Berlin, pp 90–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Almansa E, Martin MV, Cejas JR, Badia P, Jerez S, Lorenzo A (2001) Lipid and fatty acid composition of female gilthead sea bream during their reproductive cycle: effects of a diet lacking n-3 HUFA. J Fish Biol 59:267–286. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2001.tb00129.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Antunes P, Gil O (2004) PCB and DDT contamination in cultivated and wild sea bass from Ria Aveiro, Portugal. Chemosphere 54:1503–1507. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2003.08.029

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bignert A, Nyberg E, Sundqvist KL, Wiberg K (2007) Spatial variation in concentrations and patterns of the PCDD/F and dioxin-like-PCB content in herring from the northern Baltic Sea. J Environ Monitor 9:550–556. doi:10.1039/b700667e

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bjerregard P, Dewailly E, Ayotte P, Parrs T, Ferron L, Mulvad GJ (2001) Exposure of Inuit in Greenland to organochlorines through the marine diet. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2001:69–81. doi:10.1080/009841001455490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordajandi LR, Abad E, Gonzalez MJ (2008) Occurrence of PCBs, PCDD/Fs, PBDEs and DDTs in Spanish breast milk: enantiomeric fraction of chiral PCBs. Chemosphere 70:567–575. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.07.019

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borga K, Gabrielsen GW, Skaare JU (2001) Biomagnification of organochlorines along a Barents Sea food chain. Environ Pollut 113:187–198. doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(00)00171-8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chaoui L, Kara MH, Faure E, Quignard JP (2006) Growth and reproduction of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) in Mellah lagoon (north-eastern Algeria). Sci Marine 70:545–552

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz S, Lino C, Silveira MI (2003) Evaluation of organochlorine pesticide residues in human serum from an urban and two rural populations in Portugal. Sci Total Environ 317:23–35. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00334-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Czaja K, Ludwicki JK, Goralzyk K, Strucinski P (1997) Organochlorine pesticides, HCB, and PCBs in human milk in Poland. B Environ Contam Toxicol 58:769–775. doi:10.1007/s001289900400

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis JA, May MD, Greenfield BK et al (2002) Contaminant concentrations in sport fish from San Francisco Bay, 1997. Marine Pollut Bull 44:1117–1129. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00166-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Felip E, di Domenico A, Miniero R, Silvestroni L (2004) Polychlorobiphenyls and other organochlorine compounds in human folicular fluid. Chemosphere 54:1445–1449. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2003.10.040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Saeger S, Sergeant H, Piette M, Bruneel N, Van de Voorde W, Van Peteghem C (2005) Monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls in Belgian human adipose tissue samples. Chemosphere 58:953–960. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.09.069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deudero S, Box A, March D et al (2007) Organic compounds temporal trends in some invertebrate species from the Balearics, Western Mediterranean. Chemosphere 68:1650–1659. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.03.070

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Easton MDL, Luszniak D, Von der Geest E (2002) Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed. Chemosphere 46:1053–1074. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(01)00136-9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson MD (2001) PCB properties, uses, occurrences, and regulatory history. In: Robertson LW, Hansen LG (eds) PCBs recent advances in environmental toxicology and health effects. The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA, pp xi–xxx

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu CT, Wu SC (2006) Seasonal variation of the distribution of PCBs in sediments and biota in a PCB-contaminated estuary. Chemosphere 62:1786–1794. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.07.034

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo MA, Sala-Rabanal M, Ibarz A et al (2003) Functional alterations associated with “winter syndrome” in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Aquaculture 223:15–27. doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(03)00164-9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia LM, Porte C, Albaiges J (2000) Organochlorinated pollutants and xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in W. Mediterranean mesopelagic fish. Marine Pollut Bull 40:764–768. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(00)00023-0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Gutiérrez AI, Jover E, Bodineau L, Albaigés J, Bayona JM (2006) Organic contaminant loads into the Western Mediterranean Sea: estimate of Ebro River inputs. Chemosphere 65:224–236. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.02.058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield BK, Davis JA, Fairey R, Roberts C, Crane D, Ichikawa G (2005) Seasonal, interannual, and long-term variation in sport fish contamination, San Francisco Bay. Sci Total Environ 336:25–43. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.05.023

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grigorakis K, Alexis MN, Taylor KDA, Hole M (2002) Comparison of wild and cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata); composition, appearance and seasonal variations. Int J Food Sci Technol 37:477–484. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2621.2002.00604.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harding GC, LeBlanc RJ, Vass WP et al (1997) Bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the marine pelagic food web, based on a seasonal study in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence, 1976–1977. Marine Chem 56:145–179. doi:10.1016/S0304-4203(96)00077-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández F, Serrano R, Roig-Navarro F, Martinez-Bravo Y, López FJ (2000) Persistent organochlorines and organophosphorus compounds and heavy elements in common whale (Balaenoptera physalus) from the western Mediterranean sea. Marine Pollut Bull 40:426–433. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(99)00238-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández F, Pitarch E, Serrano R, Gaspar JV, Olea N (2002a) Multiresidue determination of endosulfan and metabolic derivatives in human adipose tissue using automated liquid chromatography clean up and gas chromatography analysis. J Anal Toxicol 26:94–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernández F, Pitarch E, Serrano R, Guerrero C (2002b) Determination of oganochlorine compounds in human adipose tissue using automated liquid chromatographic clean up and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Chromatographia 55:715–722. doi:10.1007/BF02491787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hites RA, Foran JA, Carpenter DO, Hamilton MC, Knuth BA, Schwager SJ (2004) Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon. Science 303:226–229. doi:10.1126/science.1091447

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra PF, O’Hara TM, Fisk AT, Borga K, Solomon KR, Muir DCG (2003) Trophic transfer of persistent organochlorine contaminants (OCs) within an Artic marine food web from the southern Beauufort-Chukchi Seas. Environ Pollut 124:509–522. doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(02)00482-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ibarz A, Blasco J, Beltran M et al (2005) Cold-induced alterations on proximate composition and fatty acid profiles of several tissues in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Aquaculture 249:477–486. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2005.02.056

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ibarz A, Beltran M, Fernandez-Borras J, Gallardo MA, Sanchez J, Blasco J (2007) Alterations in lipid metabolism and use of energy depots of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) at low temperatures. Aquaculture 262:470–480. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2006.11.008

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen HR, Alexander J, Rossland OJ et al (1996) PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs in human blood in relation to consumption of crabs from a contaminated fjord area in Norway. Environ Health Perspect 104:756–764. doi:10.2307/3433222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kidd KA, Bootsma HA, Hesslein RH, Muir DCG, Hecky RE (2001) Biomagnification of DDT through the benthic and pelagic food webs of Lake Malawi, east Africa: importance of trophic level and carbon source. Environ Sci Technol 35:14–20. doi:10.1021/es001119a

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kissil GW, Lupatsch I, Elizur A, Zohar Y (2001) Long photoperiod delayed spawning and increased somatic growth in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Aquaculture 200:363–379. doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(01)00527-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maule AG, Gannam AL, Davis JW (2007) Chemical contaminants in fish feeds used in federal salmonid hatcheries in the USA. Chemosphere 67:1308–1315. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.11.029

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monosson E, Ashley JTF, McElroy AE, Woltering D, Elskus AA (2003) PCB congener distributions in muscle, liver and gonad of Fundulus heteroclitus from the lower Hudson River Estuary and Newark Bay. Chemosphere 52:777–787. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00228-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palomera I, Olivar MP, Salat J et al (2007) Small pelagic fish in the NW Mediterranean Sea: an ecological review. Prog Oceanogr 74:377–396. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.04.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandit GG, Mohan Rao AM, Jha SK et al (2001) Monitoring of organochlorine pesticide residues in the Indian marine envinronment. Chemosphere 44:301–305. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(00)00179-X

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paterson G, Drouillard KG, Haffner GD (2007) PCB elimination by yellow perch (Perca flavescens) during an annual temperature cycle. Environ Sci Technol 41:824–829. doi:10.1021/es060266r

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pitarch E, Serrano R, López FJ, Hernández F (2003) Rapid multiresidue determination of organochlorine and organophosphorus compounds in human serum by solid phase extraction and gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 376:189–197

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sabates A, Olivar M, Salat J, Palomera I, Alemany F (2007) Physical and biological processes controlling the distribution of fish larvae in the NW Mediterranean. Prog Oceanogr 74:355–376. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.04.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salat J, Garcia M, Cruzado A et al (2002) Seasonal changes of mass structure and shelf slope exchanges at the Ebro Shelf (NW Mediterranean). Cont Shelf Res 22:327–348. doi:10.1016/S0278-4343(01)00031-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santerre CR, Ingram R, Lewis GW et al (2000) Organochlorines, organophosphates and pyrethroids in channel catfish, rainbow trout, and red swamp crayfish from aquaculture facilities. Food Chem Toxicol 65:231235

    Google Scholar 

  • Serrano R, Barreda M, Pitarch E, Hernández F (2003a) Determination of low concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in fish feed and fish tissues from aquaculture activities by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. J Sep Sci 26:75–86. doi:10.1002/jssc.200390018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano R, Simal-Julián A, Pitarch E, Hernández F, Varó I, Navarro JC (2003b) Biomagnification study on organochlorine compounds in marine aquaculture: the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) as a model. Environ Sci Technol 37:3375–3381. doi:10.1021/es020229+

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano R, Barreda M, Blanes MA (2008a) Investigating the presence of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in wild and farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) from the Western Mediterranean Sea. Marine Pollut Bull 56:963–972. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.01.014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano R, Blanes MA, Lopez FJ (2008b) Biomagnification of organochlorine pollutants in farmed and wild gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) and stable isotope characterization of the trophic chain. Sci Total Environ 389:340–349. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.09.020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano R, Blanes MA, Lopez FJ (2008c) Maternal transfer of organochlorine compounds to oocytes in wild and farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Chemosphere 70:561–566. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.07.011

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Svendsen TC, Vorkamp K, Frederiksen M, Rønsholdt B, Frier J-O (2007) Body burdens of persistent halogenated compounds during different development stages of anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta). Environ Sci Technol 41:5980–5985. doi:10.1021/es070746y

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • UE (2006) Regulation (CE) N° 1881/2006. European Commission

  • EP UN (2003) Regionally based assessment of persistent toxic substances. Global Report, UNEP, Switzerland, pp 81–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Withcomb BW, Schisterman EF, Buck GM, Weiner JM, Greicerstein H, Kostiniak PJ (2005) Relative concentrations of organochlorines in adipose tissue and serum among reproductive age women. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 19:203–213. doi:10.1016/j.etap.2004.04.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolkers H, Ch Lydersen, Kovacs KM (2004) Accumulation and lactational transfer of PCBs and pesticides in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) from Svalbard, Norway. Sci Total Environ 319:137–146. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00449-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang R, Yao T, Xu B, Jiang G, Xin X (2007) Accumulation features of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals in fish from high mountain lakes and Lhasa River in the Tibetan Plateau. Environ Int 33:151–156. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2006.08.008

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

M.A. Blanes is very grateful to the Generalitat Valenciana for his junior research contract.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Pesticides and Water (IUPA), Avda Sos Baynat, University Jaume I, 12071, Castellon, Spain

    M. A. Blanes, R. Serrano & F. J. López

Authors
  1. M. A. Blanes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Serrano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. J. López
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Serrano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blanes, M.A., Serrano, R. & López, F.J. Seasonal Trends and Tissue Distribution of Organochlorine Pollutants in Wild and Farmed Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) from the Western Mediterranean Sea and Their Relationship with Environmental and Biological Factors. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 57, 133–144 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-008-9221-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-008-9221-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation