[Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in fish from hatcheries and clarifying ponds]

The concentrations of six selected single polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, for which legal tolerance levels became valid in 1988, and the congener no. 49 (2,2',4,5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl) were determined in the muscle tissue of 58 fishes from fish hatcheries and in 17 fishes from settle ponds. The fish were taken from flowing waters in the years 1986 and 1987. High and low chlorinated biphenyls were present in each sample, but the concentration of the low chlorinated biphenyls was distinctly lower than that of the higher chlorinated ones. Nevertheless these results demonstrate the intake of components of low chlorinated technical PCB mixtures in the environment and food chains. Compared with the investigations carried out in 1980/81 in fishes from fish hatcheries, a decrease of PCB contamination in the muscle tissues with regard to the technical mixture Clophen A 60 was observed. This is in accordance with the results our team obtained a short time previously in muscle tissue from foxes and in food-stuffs. The concentration of all PCB congeners determined in the muscle tissue from fish of settle ponds was significantly higher than in the tissue from fish taken from hatcheries. Thus, the PCB content depends on the PCB load in different environments. Therefore, fishes can be useful as bioindicators for the intake of low and high chlorinated PCB congeners in aquatic ecosystems.