Species-Specific Bioaccumulation of Halogenated Organic Pollutants and Their Metabolites in Fish Serum from an E-Waste Site, South China

Halogenated organic pollutants (HOPs)-including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), polybromobiphenyls (PBBs), dechlorane plus (DP), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) as well as PCB metabolites (methylsulfone [MeSO2-]) and hydroxylated (OH-) PCBs and OH-PBDEs-were determined in the serum of mud carp and northern snakehead from an electronic-waste (e-waste) site in South China. The average concentrations (mean +/- A SD) of I PCBs pound, I PBDEs pound, I OCPs pound, I PBBs pound, I TBBPA pound, I HBCDs pound, and I DP pound were 1410 +/- A 324, 70 +/- A 20, 3.0 +/- A 0.4, 2.8 +/- A 0.8, 1.6 +/- A 0.4, 1.0 +/- A 0.2, and 0.3 +/- A 0.03 ng/g wet weight (ww) in mud carp and 6430 +/- A 781, 468 +/- A 49, 22.4 +/- A 1.1, 7.0 +/- A 0.6, 2.9 +/- A 2.3, 5.5 +/- A 1.1, and 4.6 +/- A 0.6 ng/g ww in northern snakehead, respectively. MeSO2-PCBs, OH-PCBs, and OH-PBDEs were detected at a total concentration of 0.44 +/- A 0.03 and 9.7 +/- A 0.3 ng/g ww in mud carp and northern snakehead, respectively. The congener profiles of PCBs, PBDEs, OH/MeSO2-PCBs, and OH-PBDEs were found to be significantly different between the two fish species, possibly as a result of species-specific bioaccumulation and/or metabolism of the HOPs. Chirality of ten PCB congeners and alpha-HBCD, as well as the f (anti) values of DP in the serum samples, supported the species-specific biotransformation of HOPs. Furthermore, the presence of covaried and counter-varied enantiomeric fractions of PCBs between the two fish species indicated species- and congener-specific enantiomer enrichment of PCBs.