Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination of American lobster, Homarus americanus, in the proximity of a coal-coking plant

For many years wastewaters from 2 coal-coking ovens were discharged to a harbour in Cape Breton Island, N.S. One oven was shut down in November 1981 and the other in November 1983. Lobsters were collected from the harbour in 1982 and 1984 and analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The concentrations of several PAH found in the digestive gland and tail muscle at different times, and in lobsters held in the laboratory for 12 months after the 1984 collection, are tabulated. The study confirmed the ability of lobsters to accumulate very high concentrations of PAH in their tissues, and showed that subsequent changes in PAH concentration with time were relatively slow. It was concluded that the harbour would have to remain closed to commercial fisheries for a long period unless action was taken to remove or isolate the source of PAH.