Organochlorines in deep-sea fish from the Nordfjord

Hepatic levels of OCs (Organochlorines) were analysed in deep-sea fish from the Nordfjord in Norway. Levels of PCBs in the present study exceed backgr ound levels in fish from Norwegian water by a factor of 1.5 to 50, and DDTs by one to two orders of magnitude. DDTs in fish from the Nordfjord have pr eviously been attributed to DDT use in fruit orchards. The present levels o f DDTs show that the decline usually found in biota in Scandinavia since th e 1970s is not found in the deep-sea fish in Nordfjord. There is no known l ocal PCB source that can explain the elevated levels in the present study. This indicates that the fjord efficiently accumulates atmospheric contamina nts. Chlordanes and HCB were less important, and HCHs were not detected. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.