Flounders as indicators of environmental contamination by persistent organic pollutants and health risk

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the potential of using flounders as bioindicators of accumulation and transformation of POPs and to assess the possible environmental risk to the health of the population of the Russian coastal regions. The mean levels of HCH, DDT, and PCBs in the flounders were as follows: in the eastern Sea of Okhotsk, 49 ± 51, 62 ± 89, and 106 ± 83 ng/g lipid weight; in the southern Sea of Okhotsk, 36 ± 37, 15 ± 16, and 97 ± 41 ng/g lipid wt; in the Sea of Japan/East Sea, 62 ± 36, 39 ± 28, and 1616 ± 1177 ng/g lipid wt, respectively. In the Tatar Strait, OCPs were represented mainly by β-HCH with a concentration of 221 ± 182 ng/g lipid wt; the PCB level was 455 ± 317 ng/g lipid wt. Values of ILCR = 2.1·10^-5 due to the consumption of flounder from the Sea of Japan/East Sea at a rate of 29 kg/yr indicate a probability of developing cancer during a lifetime.

Organochlorine pesticides in marine ecosystems of the Far Eastern Seas of Russia (2000-2017)

The present review provides information on the main organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), widely used in world agriculture in the 1940s-1960s. The patterns of their distribution in the environment, as well as the toxicity, metabolism, and degradation are described. Some data on OCPs distribution in components of aquatic ecosystems in different regions of the World and, particularly, in the Far Eastern Seas of Russia-the Sea of Japan/East Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Bering Sea-is considered for the period 2000-2017. The obtained results are discussed.