Accumulation of organochlorines and mercury in flounder — an approach to pollution assessments

Abstract

Levels of PCBs, HCB and Hg were determined in the muscle tissue of flounder (Platichthys flesus L.), sampled at two sites of the highly industrialized Elbe estuary which is characterized by a decreasing gradient of contaminant levels in water and sediments towards the mouth of the river. The contaminant levels were compared to those found in muscle tissue of flounders caught in an unpolluted reference area, the Eider estuary. Juvenile flounders (1–2 cm total length) caught during their migration from the southern North Sea coast into the Elbe estuary in early summer showed a significantly higher level of contamination at both Elbe stations than those from the reference area. In the following spring, the flounders, having grown to a length of 12–14 cm, reflected the gradient of contaminants measured in water and sediment. However, during summer and late autumn a drastic increase in average contaminant concentration was observed in the muscle tissue of flounders taken from the less polluted estuarine site. It became evident that severe oxygen depletion in the heavily polluted area near Hamburg had provoked the migration of highly contaminated fish downstream to the less polluted sampling area; thus intermingling with the less contaminated flounder population of this region had occurred. The results obtained indicate that careful analysis of environmentally controlled behavioural patterns in the species used for monitoring purposes as well as an appropriate statistical treatment of the data gained from chemical analysis are essential for assessing the contaminant concentrations in organisms in relation to the pollution load of their habitats.