Contamination profile of some fish and shellfish by organochlorine compounds

Residue levels of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs were determined for 135 fishes and shellfishes collected from markets in Osaka Prefecture and other regions from 1976 to 1987 (unit=μg/kg, ppb on whole & wet basis). There were no clear changes in the levels during the period and there were no cases which exceeded the tentative regulation value of PCBs for foods in Japan. Organochlorine compounds were distributed in the range of N. D. to a few tens of ppb in butterfly bream, shrimps and flat fish, and were more widespread in horse mackerel, sardines, mackerel and hairtail. The residue level in yellowtail, or young yellowtail was more widely distributed, though this could not be characterized distinctly on account of an insufficient number of samples. Spanish mackerel was noted to have a remarkably wide distribution of leveles of DDT compounds and α, β, γ-HCH in spite of similar orders of magnitude of PCBs, δ-HCH and dieldrin in comparison to other fish and shellfish samples. Consequently, the inclusion of Spanish mackerel in the daily diet might significantly raise the total daily intake of those compounds.