Journal
CHEMOSPHERE
Volume 83, Issue 2, Pages 175-185Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.12.044
Keywords
Eel stages; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; PolyBrominated Diphenyl-Ethers; Estuary
Categories
Funding
- Syndicat Mixte pour le Developpement Durable de l'Estuaire de la Gironde (SMIDDEST)
- CEFIC's Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI)
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR-07-VULN-03-005]
- Agence de l'eau Adour Garonne
- Region Aquitaine
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Since the 1980s, the eel population has been decreasing dangerously. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) such as Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are one of the suspected causes of this decline. A preliminary study of PCB contamination carried out on different fish from the Gironde estuary (southwest of France, Europe) has shown a relatively high level of contamination of eel muscles. In order to characterize the contamination level of PCBs and PBDEs (PolyBrominated Diphenyl-Ethers) in eels from this estuary more than 240 eels were collected during the years 2004-2005 in the Gironde estuarine system, from glass eels to silver eels. Individual European eels were grouped according to length and localization sites. The results have shown a low contamination level of glass eels: respectively 28 +/- 11 ng g(-1) dw for PCBs and 5 +/- 3 ng g(-1) dw for PBDEs. The contamination level in eels (expressed in ng g dw) increases from glass eels to silver eels up to 3399 ng g(-1) dw of PCBs for the most contaminated silver eel. Such levels of PCBs similar to those observed in Northern Europe, could raise sanitary problems connected with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. These results are worrying for the local people who regularly eat eels caught in the Gironde estuary. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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