ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDE AND PCB RESIDUES IN PHARMACEUTICAL, INDUSTRIAL AND FOOD GRADE FISH OILS

Oils rendered from whole fish and from fish offal are an important pri mary dietary item in many areas of the world. In addition, fish oils a re used extensively in the food industry as raw materials and ingredie nts. An extensive specialist market also exists for fish oils in dieta ry supplements. Traditionally, benefits have been conferred by their h igh vitamin D content in the prevention and cure of rickets in childre n. Therapeutic benefits in the treatment of cardiovascular, arthritic and dermatological disease have also been identified. Fish oils, howev er, are also susceptible to contamination with lipophilic organic chem icals. Many organochlorine chemicals are now ubiquitous contaminants o f marine ecosystems, This paper reports analytical results for a selec tion of commercially available and industrial grade fish oil samples, compares the values with historical samples, and discusses their poten tial contribution to dietary intakes of organochlorine chemicals.