Levels and profiles of DDTs and PCBs in a gadiform fish (Phycis blennoides) from Mediterranean Sea

摘要

Organochlorine pesticides (DDTs) are an important component of the chemical pollutants now found in all parts of the global marine environment. They are potentially hazardous to living systems because of their inclination to accumulate in lipid deposits of biological species and their resistance to degradation. Once released into aquatic environment these hydrophobic substances can either be immediately absorbed by organisms or adsorb onto suspended particles. After deposition with settling particles on bottom sediments, these pesticides may still be accumulated by benthic organisms and re-enter the food chain (Nhan et al., 1997). Structurally similar compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are also a group of contaminants of great environmental concern. These compounds mimic organochlorine pesticides with regard to physical and chemical properties, environmental fate processes and potential for accumulation in sediment and biota (Sapozhnikova et al., 2004). Both these categories of pollutants, all of anthropogenic origin, have the potential to affect development, reproduction, and behaviour of fish and wildlife (Ferraro et al., 1991; McKim, 1994). One location of special concern regarding chemical contamination is the Mediterranean Sea. The uniqueness of its configuration in combination with the fact that this basin historically receives significant industrial and agri-chemical inputs render it a potentially threatened ecosystem (Gomez, 2003). Greater fork-beard (Phycis blennoides) is a gadoid fish representative of Mediterranean mesopelagic habitats.