Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in cod from the southern Baltic, 1983

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-benzenehexachloride (BHC; HCH), p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD and p,p'-DDT (sigma DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) levels have been determined in muscle tissue of 207 cod (Gadus morhua) netted during 1983 in different regions in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. The mean levels found for cod muscle tissue (microgram/kg) related to wet weight were: 0.65 HCB, 1.2 alpha-BHC, 9.0 beta-BHC, 2.8 gamma-BHC, delta-BHC remained undetected, 13 sigma BHC, 4.4 p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDD and o,p'-DDT remained undetected, 4.0 p,p'-DDD, 1.8 p,p'-DDT, 10 sigma DDT and 55 PCBs. The results are compared with levels found in cod caught in different regions of the Baltic Sea during 1967-1983, and reported previously by other authors.