POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS IN FISH AND SHELLFISH FROM THE MERSEY ESTUARY AND LIVERPOOL BAY

Muscle tissue of flatfish (dab, sole, flounder and plaice) from the Me rsey Estuary and inner Liverpool Bay contain concentrations of Sigma P CB(ICES 6) that range from 7.7-43.4 mu g kg(-1). Using a derived conve rsion factor of 3.0 for Sigma PCB(ICES 6) to Sigma PCB(A1254), concent rations of Sigma PCB(A1254) in flatfish from the Mersey Estuary and Li verpool Bay range from 23-130 mu g kg(-1), the latter of which classif ies into the 'upper' category of contamination as defined by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the Oslo and Paris Commissions. Values of Sig ma PCB(A1254) in Mersey Estuary flatfish are 1.2-4x higher than data r eported for outer Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea over the last twenty years. Sigma PCBs in roundfish (cod whiting) from the Mersey Estuary ale low, though higher than in Liverpool Bay by a factor of up to 3x. Congeners No. 138 and No. 153 contribute much of the Sigma PCB in all flatfish, with No. 180 and No. 101 present in significant but lesser a mounts. The lighter, less chlorinated congeners No. 28 and No. 52, are absent from roundfish except those from the inner estuary. Sigma PCBs in Mersey Estuary fish are 20-200 times higher than for the north-wes t Atlantic Ocean and the Solway Firth. For some Mersey Estuary fish Si gma PCB values exceed national proscriptive limits set by the Environm ental Protection Agency for the USA. Caution is advocated regarding th e consumption of fish from industrialised estuaries, including the Mer sey, though there are no statutory limits for PCBs in fish or fishery products within the European Union. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd.