DDT group compounds in fish and shellfish from the Mersey Estuary and Liverpool Bay

✍ Scribed by Leah, R. T. ;Johnson, M. S. ;Conner, L. ;Levene, C. F.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 109 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-4725
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2256(1997)12:3<223::aid-tox4>3.0.co;2-a

✦ Synopsis

Concentrations of ͚DDT, reported as ͚opЈ and ppЈ DDT, DDD, and DDE, in muscle tissue of fish from the Mersey Estuary are significantly elevated, compared to outer Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea. ͚DDT concentrations in Mersey Estuary fish, especially flounder, are also higher than for populations of the same species in the Thames Estuary, the west of Scotland, the English Channel, and Atlantic coast estuaries of France. ͚DDT was especially high in flounder from Garston in the inner Mersey Estuary (38.4 Ϯ 17 Ȑg kg Ϫ1 wet wt), but were also elevated in plaice, Dover sole, dab, and invertebrates. ͚DDT is dominated by ppЈDDD and ppЈDDE, and the former makes an unusually high contribution (44-65%) to ͚DDT compared to sites elsewhere. Concentrations of ppЈDDT are measurable in Mersey Estuary fish but generally only at low levels. Cod and whiting contained much lower levels of ͚DDT than flatfish. Residues of DDT in whitefish from Liverpool Bay are similar to those for the Solway Firth and Arctic waters and generally below 3 Ȑg kg Ϫ1 wet weight.