The content of metals in organisms of various trophic levels in freshwater and brackish lakes on the coast of the sea of Japan.

The content of trace metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu) was examined in water-in the suspended and dissolved forms, in the suspended material and organisms of the food chain-phytoplankton-filter-feeding bivalves (Kunashiria coptzevi, Corbicula japonica) in fresh- and brackish-water lakes of the coast of the Sea of Japan. It was demonstrated that the fresh-water lakes were no different from the brackish-water ones in concentrations of metals in organisms and water. The anthropogenically altered Vaskovskoye Lake is distinguished among the fresh lakes by the elevated concentrations of Pb and Zn in the ecosystem components. Trace metals do not accumulate in the phytoplankton-mollusks food chain: content of Pb decreases while concentrations of Zn, Cd, and Cu do not change practically. This is associated with the low content of heavy metals in water, suspended matter, and suspended organic carbon controlling the filtration rate of organisms.

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations and congener composition in masu salmon from Japan: a study of all 209 PCB congeners by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS).

We collected two subspecies of masu salmon: Oncorhynchus masou masou from four localities (southern Sea of Japan northward to Hokkaido) and O. masou ishikawae from upstream from Ise Bay close to a heavy industrial area. All 209 PCB congeners were analyzed using HRGC/HRMS. PCA ordination of congener concentrations divided data into three groups: (i) ssp. masou from Hokkaido, (ii) ssp. masou from the other regions and (iii) ssp. ishikawae. The highest ∑ PCB concentration (40.39 ng/wet wt) was in ssp. ishikawae followed by ssp. masou from southern waters; however the TEQdioxin-like PCBs was highest in ssp. masou from southern water (1.96 pg-TEQdioxin-like PCBs/g wet wt.) due to the high proportion of congener #126 in its complement (#126 has the highest toxic equivalency factor among congeners). There is likely a contamination source offshore in the southern Sea of Japan and/or along the migratory route of ssp. masou.