Assessing contamination levels in a reservoir on the basis of the determination of xenobiotics in fish

In our research the fish caught in surface water of the Smrad'avka reservoir were studied. Some inorganic and organic pollutants were monitored in the muscles and the digestive system of these fish. The monitoring focused particularly on indicator congeners of PCBs, because the reservoir is situated in the surroundings of a reclaimed waste site with deposited wastes consisting of paints containing Delor 106. The highest levels were found for the following PCB congeners ( mu g/kg of fish tissue): PCB 28 (14.280) in eel, PCB 52 (1.1446) in tench, PCB 101 (7.417) in tench, PCB 118 (1.741) in tench, PCB 138 (34.980) in tench, PCB 153 (49.800) in tench and PCB 180 (27.780) in tench. Also contents of high-risk elements were analysed (zinc, copper, nickel, arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury,). Samples containing higher levels of mercury were also analysed for methylmercury. The levels of particular trace elements ranged as follows: Zn 3.7 - 12.5, Cu 0.126 - 0.612, Ni 0.045 - 0.125, Hg 0.0476 - 0.3152, MeHg 0.0115 - 0.0820 and As 0.0216 - 0.0480, Pb 0.002 - 0.030, Cd 0.001 - 0.007 mg per kg of fish tissue.