PCBs and organochlorinated pesticides in eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) from the Po delta

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorinated pesticides were extracted from samples of muscle from eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) caught in the Po Delta and determined by fused silica capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main compounds identified were polychlorinated biphenyls, HCB, p,p′-DDT and its metabolites, p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDD. PCB and DDT concentrations were higher in eel captured in spring than in those fished in autumn and were correlated with fat concentrations in muscle tissue. Mean PCB levels were 265 ± 9 and 211 ± 6.9 μg/kg wet weight, and those of DDT compounds 18.45 ± 12.7 and 15.76 ± 10.6 μg/kg wet weight, respectively. They were also higher than those determined in other species of fish captured in the same body of water, although the data indicate that there is probably no real health risk from irregular consumption of eel containing these xenobiotic concentrations.