Pcb Contamination Fish
Fish and wildlife service.
Pcb contamination fish. Pcb concentrations in water and sediment have declined some since being banned. Because of their longevity pcbs are still widely in use even though their manufacture has declined drastically since the 1960s. The north central texas council of governments coordinated public participation in this project. Pcb contamination is high in the housatonic river and new bedford harbor in massachusetts.
In particular to determine the degree of pcb contamination in the fish we investigated the concentration of total pcb pcb and the proportions of 209 individual pcb congeners by high resolution gas chromatography high. The goal of this project was to assess the sources and extent of pcb contamination in fish. But pcbs bioaccumulate meaning that seemingly miniscule doses build up in the fatty tissue of fish when they ingest the chemicals. Various species of filter feeding shellfish.
These chemicals are harmful to adults as well. In general bottom feeding fish striped bass bluefish american eel sea trout and larger predator fish bass lake trout walleye caught in contaminated waters contain higher levels of pcbs. A polychlorinated biphenyl pcb is an organic chlorine compound with the formula c 12 h 10 x cl x polychlorinated biphenyls were once widely deployed as dielectric and coolant fluids in electrical apparatus carbonless copy paper and in heat transfer fluids. The contamination is passed up the food chain as predators including humans consume tainted fish.
We determined the polychlorinated biphenyl pcb congeners in 101 marine fish obtained from tsunami stricken areas following the great east japan earthquake in 2011. The tceq actively seeks the participation of local stakeholders. Pcbs or polychlorinated biphenyls are highly toxic industrial compounds. Although they were banned from manufacture in the united states in 1977 pcbs are slow to.
Among small mammals the. In 1979 amid suggestions that these chemicals could have unintended impacts on human and environmental health. Among sensitive species of teleosts total pcb residues in ug kg fresh weight in excess of 500 in diets 400 in whole body and 300 in eggs were demonstrably harmful and should be considered as presumptive evidence of significant pcb contamination. Level of pcbs found in fish will vary with region and the type of fish native to that region.