Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in herring from the Southern Baltic, 1981

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Abstract
Summary A total of 295 samples of muscle tissue from herring netted in 1981 in the southern part of the Baltic Sea were analysed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT and analogues (DDE and DDD), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and isomers of benzenehexachloride (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-BHC). The mean values obtained for herring muscle tissue relating to wet weight were: 8.6 μg HCB/kg, 12 μg alpha-BHC/kg, 20 μg gamma-BHC/kg, 41 μg p,p′-DDE/kg, 49 μg p,p′-DDD/kg, 30 μg p,p′DDT/kg, 120 μg εDDT/kg and 550 μg PCB/kg; beta-BHC was detectable in trace amounts and delta-BHC was not detected. Herring caught in the area under the direct influence of the Vistula River contained higher levels of εDDT in their muscles than those in the other regions investigated. Significant positive recti linear correlations were found between the residue concentration of HCB, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDD and _εDDT in muscles and the body length of herring, and between the lipid content and the body length.