Persistent organic pollutants in tissues of the white-blooded Antarctic fish Champsocephalus gunnari and Chaenocephalus aceratus. ...

• Main Authors: Zennegg, Markus, Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia, Segner, Helmut, Strobel, Anneli, Schmid, Peter
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science 2016
• Subjects: 630 Agriculture; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarctic Ocean; Elephant Island; Antarc*; Icefish
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.97756; http://boris.unibe.ch/97756/

The global occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) continuously contributes to their accumulation also in remote areas such as the Antarctic Ocean. Antarctic fish, which hold high trophic positions but appear to possess low endogenous elimination rates for chemicals, are expected to bioaccumulate POPs with rising anthropogenic pollution. Using a chemical-analytical method, we measured concentrations of PCBs, PBDEs, HCBs, HCH and DDTs and determined toxic equivalents (TEQs) and bioanalytical equivalents (BEQs) in muscle and ovaries of Antarctic icefish caught in the Southern Ocean around Elephant Island. We used two species with different feeding habits and trophic web positions: the planktivorous Champsocephalus gunnari and the piscivorous Chaenocephalus aceratus. Our results revealed higher contaminant levels in ovary than in muscle tissues of both species. Most analytes concentrations and the TEQs (0.2-0.5) and BEQs (0.2) were lower as in temperate species. Comparison with literature data points ...