W6 PM Environmental Changes in Response to China's Economic Expansion
Wednesday, 16 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in 324-326

(ZEN-1117-458152) Persistent Halogenated Hydrocarbons in Fishes of China.

MENG, X¹, ZENG, E¹, MAI, B¹, ¹ STATE KEY LABORATORY OF ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY, GUANGZHOU INSTITUTE OF GEOCHEMISTRY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG, CHINA

ABSTRACT- Despite the importance of human intake of organic contaminants through fish consumption, no systematic assessment of fish contamination and associated human health risk has been conducted in China. In addition, the rapid economic growth in China during the last two decades has also raised serious concerns about possible adverse environmental changes and related impact on China's exporting seafood products. To address these issues, we conducted a comprehensive fish survey in Guangdong Province of coastal southern China, one of the economically fastest growing and typical seafood-producing zones in China. To ensure sufficient statistical power for data analysis, 13 fish species with at least 30 individuals each were purchased from local fish markets of 11 cities, including seven species of freshwater fish, three species of farmed seawater fish, and three species of wild seawater fish. These samples were analyzed for chlorinated pesticides (mainly HCHs and DDTs), polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Preliminary results indicate that only a small number of samples contained total DDTs at levels higher than the screening level (14 ng/g, wet wt) for marine wildlife fish consumption (developed by Environment Canada), with few containing DDTs higher than the screening levels for human consumption developed by the USEPA (117 ng/g, wet wt) and OEHHA (100 ng/g, wet wt). Other results and implications will be discussed in detail.

Key words: Persistent halogenated hydrocarbons, Fish survey, Screening level, China