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Bioaccumulation of six PCB indicator congeners in a heavily polluted water reservoir in Eastern Slovakia: tissue-specific distribution in fish and their parasites

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Abstract

Concentrations of six indicator PCB congeners (IUPAC nos. 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, and 180) were measured in several organs and adipose tissue of a freshwater predatory fishes (European perch, northern pike, pike perch, wels catfish) as well as in nonpredators (common carp, freshwater bream, goldfish, white bream) and in acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus lucii from the water reservoir Zemplínska šírava (Eastern Slovakia), which is considered to be one of the most PCB-contaminated places in Europe. Concentration of PCBs was determined by capillary gas chromatography in samples from May to September 2009. The two-way main-effect ANOVA confirmed that feeding habits of fish (P < 0.00001) and peculiarity of individual fish organs (P < 0.01) affect PCB bioaccumulation. The total amount of PCBs was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in predators compared to nonpredators. Tissue-specific differences were found in PCB accumulation in both fish groups. PCBs were predominantly accumulated in the liver and hard roe. Individual congeners were not distributed homogeneously within the investigated organs and adipose tissue. PCB 153 was present in higher concentrations than the other congeners in all fish organs as well as in adipose tissue comprising an average 31 and 34 % of ΣPCB in predators and nonpredators, respectively. Acanthocephalans, attached to the intestine of perch, absorbed significantly higher concentrations of PCBs (P < 0.001) than the muscles, liver, kidney, brain, and adipose tissue of their host. About 20 times lower amount of PCBs was detected in the liver and almost 3 times in muscles of infected perch. Data on PCB accumulation in perch infected with acanthocephalans demonstrated a decline of PCB values in all organs as well as in adipose tissue compared to noninfected fish. About 20 times lower amount of PCBs was detected in the liver and almost 3 times in muscles of infected perch. Present results could indicate that some parasitic organisms may influence positively their hosts in PCB-contaminated environment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank to Dr. Ľ. Turčeková from the Institute of Parasitology SAS Košice, Slovakia for collaborating in sampling and arrangement of analyses and to Dr. A. Kočan from the Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava, Slovakia for kindly providing the relevant literature on contamination of the study area. We gratefully acknowledge the funding of this study by the Slovak Research and Development Agency, projects No. LPP-0151-07 and SK-BG/0031-08; Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic; and Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA), projects 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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  1. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001, Košice, Slovakia

    Tímea Brázová, Vladimíra Hanzelová & Dana Miklisová

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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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Correspondence to Vladimíra Hanzelová.

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Brázová, T., Hanzelová, V. & Miklisová, D. Bioaccumulation of six PCB indicator congeners in a heavily polluted water reservoir in Eastern Slovakia: tissue-specific distribution in fish and their parasites. Parasitol Res 111, 779–786 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-2900-3

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