Levels of dioxins in fish and fishery products on the German market.

In 1995-1998 the contents of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans of 184 pooled fish samples were analysed. Sampling focused on fish and fishery products with a market share of more than 1% and covered all fishing grounds important for the supply of the German market. Investigation included 15 different fish species, shrimp, mussel and squid samples and various fishery products, typically on the German market. Generally lean fish species like cod, saithe or Alaska pollock were less contaminated on fresh weight basis than fat fish species like herring, Greenland halibut and sardine. In herring the dioxin content is related to the fishing ground. Low concentrations were found in North Sea herring, high concentrations measured in samples from the Baltic Sea. Dioxin contents in fishery products did not differ significantly from the raw fish samples. Results allow an estimation of the daily intake of dioxins and furans via fish consumption in Germany. Based on a daily fish consumption of 20 g the average intake of dioxins via fish is 6.2 pg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQs per person and day.

[1]  M. Tysklind,et al.  Overview on environmental fate of chlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans. Sources, levels and isomeric pattern in various matrices , 1987 .

[2]  G. Rippen,et al.  Aktualisierung von Verzehrsdaten und Aufnahme Polychlorierter Dibenzo-p-dioxine und Dibenzofurane durch den Menschen , 1996 .

[3]  P. Fürst,et al.  Levels of PCDDs and PCDFs in food-stuffs from the Federal Republic of Germany , 1990 .

[4]  K. Oetjen,et al.  Levels of toxaphene indicator compounds in fish meal, fish oil and fish feed. , 1998, Chemosphere.

[5]  H. Govers,et al.  Relative contributions of water and food to the bioaccumulation of a mixture of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in guppies , 1993 .

[6]  H. Beck,et al.  PCDD and PCDF exposure and levels in humans in Germany. , 1994, Environmental health perspectives.

[7]  P. Fürst,et al.  Analysenverfahren zur Bestimmung von polychlorierten Dibenzodioxinen und Dibenzofuranen in Frauenmilch , 1989 .

[8]  M. Oehme,et al.  Polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) and dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) levels in organisms and sediments from the frierfjord, southern Norway , 1989 .

[9]  T. Cederberg,et al.  Assessment of dietary intake of dioxins and related PCBs by the population of EU Member States , 2000 .

[10]  A. Opperhuizen,et al.  Temporal variation of CYP1A indices, PCB and 1-OH pyrene concentration in flounder, Platichthys flesus, from the Dutch Wadden Sea , 1996 .

[11]  B. Jiménez,et al.  Presence of PCDDs and PCDFs in food for human consumption: A review , 1991 .

[12]  C. Rappe,et al.  Dioxins in cod and herring from the seas around Sweden , 1989 .