ABSTRACT
Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were determined in 16 fish, 1 mollusc and 1 crustacean species living near a cliff-face sewage outfall. For the 15 organochlorine compounds scanned, HCB, chlordane, dieldrin and SigmaDDT were recorded in highest concentrations. There was considerable variation in concentrations between muscle and liver and between species. Livers had higher concentrations of organochlorines and a higher percentage lipid than muscle. The highest concentrations were recorded in livers of the elasmobranch and tetraodontiform fishes. Organochlorines were only recorded at low concentrations in muscle, often at or near detection limits. No organochlorines were detected in the two invertebrate species.
ABSTRACT
Samples of muscle, from four types of fish, that had been spiked at 0.25 and 1.0 mg/kg with hexachlorobenzene (HCB), gamma BHC (lindane), technical chlordane, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDD were analyzed by eight laboratories. Some laboratories could not reliably detect organochlorine compounds even though they were registered as national testing laboratories. The analytical accuracies of laboratories that were able to reliably detect the spiked compounds were very variable and exceeded acceptable limits. Within-laboratory precision was generally acceptable. There was significant interlaboratory variability among the estimates of percent lipid for each fish type. This variability negated the use of percent lipid for standardization of organochlorine concentrations for comparison between studies. The results highlight the need for standard analytical protocols that are regularly tested by interlaboratory studies. They also indicate that interchangeability of data between studies is limited due to low analytical accuracy. Therefore, comparison of analytical data to absolute environmental and regulatory standards is difficult. The use of "latitudinal confidence ranges" when setting regulatory standards is recommended.