On the Distribution of PCBs and Organochlorine Pesticides in Fish and Sediment of the Asan Bay

Distribution of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides in sediments, seawater and fish tissues were examined. Concentrations of ${\Sigma}PCBs$ and ${\Sigma}DDTs$ in the intertidal sediments of Asan Bay ranged from $1.90{\sim}3.27\;ng\;g^{-1}$ dw (dry weight) and $0.51{\sim}1.26\;ng\;g^{-1}$ dw, respectively. ${\Sigma}PCBs$ concentrations in the tissue of greenling (Hexagrammos otakii), olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) and finespotted flounder (Pleuronichthys cornutus) were $1.27{\pm}0.55$ , $1.30{\pm}0.71$ and $1.19{\pm}0.43\;ng\;g^{-1}$ ww (wet weight), respectively. The profile of PCBs in the sediments and the 3 species of fish differed as witnessed by the dominance of tetra- to penta-chlorinated congeners in sediments while penta- to hexa-chlorinated congeners dominated in fish. ${\Sigma}DDTs$ concentrations were $0.67{\pm}0.52$ , $0.79{\pm}0.61$ , $1.58{\pm}1.05\;ng\;g^{-1}$ ww respectively in the tissue of greenling, olive flounder and finespotted flounder. The p,p'-DDE appeared to be the most important metabolite of DDT in studied fishes. The concentrations of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides measured in this study for fish were generally lower than those of previous studies. Compared to the pollutant concentration quality guidelines in marine fish, the environment of Asan Bay appears to be in a healthy state.