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Biomonitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in heavily polluted aquatic environment in different fish species

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Abstract

The distribution and concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in fish species (European perch Perca fluviatilis, northern pike Esox lucius, pike perch Sander lucioperca, wels catfish Silirus glanus, common carp Cyprinus carpio, European eel Anguilla anguilla, freshwater bream Abramis brama, goldfish Carassius auratus, and roach Rutilus rutilus) in a heavily polluted water reservoir Zemplínska šírava (Slovakia). The study performed at two different time points 5 years apart (2004 and 2009) revealed serious PCB contamination of fish muscle tissue and significant interspecies as well as tissue-specific differences in PCB uptake by fish. Total PCBs broadly correlated with the trophic position of individual fish species within a food chain (P < 0.01). The concentrations were particularly high in predatory fish species, perch, pike, and pike perch (108.0, 90.1, and 113.0 mg kg−1 lipid wt, respectively), but comparable PCB values were also found in non-predatory detrivorous freshwater bream (128.0 mg kg−1 lipid wt). The lowest PCB values were surprisingly assessed in European eel (17.1 mg kg−1 lipid wt). Tissue analysis showed the highest storage capacity of the liver (hepatopancreas in cyprinids) with maximum concentrations recorded found in northern pike (214.0 mg kg−1 lipid wt) and freshwater bream (163.0 mg kg−1 lipid wt). Negative correlations, mostly not significant, between the total PCB concentrations and fish weight were observed (P > 0.05). The study has shown that the kind of fish, its feeding habit, and specific conditions of the habitat are mutually interrelated factors that are responsible for significant variations in fish body burdens. A tendency to PCB biomagnification was also proved in some fish species of this water reservoir.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank to Assoc. Prof. Diana Kirin, Agricultural University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria for collaboration in fish sampling. We gratefully acknowledge the funding of this study by the Slovak Research and Development Agency, project no. LPP-0151-07; Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic; and Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA), project no. 2/0080/10. The publication has been realized within a frame of the project Centre of Excellence for Parasitology (Code ITMS: 26220120022) based on the support of the Operational Programme “Research & Development” funded from the European Regional Development Fund (rate 0.9).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001, Košice, Slovakia

    Tímea Brázová, Vladimíra Hanzelová, Dana Miklisová & Ľudmila Turčeková

  2. Centre for Evaluation of Food Contaminants, Food Research Institute, 82475, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Danka Šalgovičová

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  1. Tímea Brázová
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  2. Vladimíra Hanzelová
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  3. Dana Miklisová
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  4. Danka Šalgovičová
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  5. Ľudmila Turčeková
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Correspondence to Tímea Brázová.

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Brázová, T., Hanzelová, V., Miklisová, D. et al. Biomonitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in heavily polluted aquatic environment in different fish species. Environ Monit Assess 184, 6553–6561 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2440-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2440-9

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