Organic and trace metal contaminants in sediments and English sole tissues from Vancouver Harbour, Canada.

As part of a multinational workshop on marine environmental quality, sediments were collected from seven sites in Vancouver Harbour and analyzed for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorines (OCs), and for trace metals. English sole were collected from five sites, and muscle was analyzed for trace metals and liver for OCs. As expected, sediment PAH and OC concentrations and tissue OC concentrations were higher at sites east of the First Narrows, compared to the outer harbor and reference sites. Sediment PAH concentrations east of the First Narrows were similar to concentrations at moderately contaminated sites in Puget Sound, south of Vancouver Harbour. In contrast, concentrations of OCs in sediments and tissue were low to moderate, even at relatively contaminated sites within Vancouver Harbour. Although several trace metals in sediments were higher than in contaminated sediments from Puget Sound, trace metals measured in fish muscle were lower.

Asia-Pacific mussel watch: monitoring contamination of persistent organochlorine compounds in coastal waters of Asian countries.

Contamination of persistent organochlorines (OCs) such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), DDT and its metabolites (DDTs), HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane) isomers (HCHs), chlordane compounds (CHLs), and HCB (hexachlorobenzene) were examined in mussels collected from coastal waters of Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Far East Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam in 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001 to elucidate the contamination status, distribution and possible pollution sources and to assess the risks on aquatic organisms and human. OCs were detected in all mussels collected from all the sampling sites investigated. Considerable residue levels of p,p(')-DDT and alpha-HCH were found in mussels and the concentrations of DDTs and HCHs found in mussels from Asian developing countries were higher than those in developed nations suggesting present usage of DDTs and HCHs along the coastal waters of Asian developing countries. On the other hand, lower concentrations of PCBs detected in mussels from Asian developing countries than those in developed countries indicate that PCBs contamination in mussels is strongly related to industrial and activities. To our knowledge, this is a first comprehensive report on monitoring OCs pollution in the Asia-Pacific region.