Pesticide residues, PCBs and PAHs in baked, charbroiled, salt boiled and smoked Great Lakes lake trout

Skin-off lean lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush namaycush) from Lakes Huron, Michigan and Ontario as well as siscowets (fat lake trout) (Salvelinus namaycush siscowet) from Lake Superior were cooked by baking and charbroiling to determine the potential of processing/cooking on reducing the levels of pesticides and total PCBs in fish at the dinner table. Lake trout from Lakes Michigan and Superior also were salt boiled and skin-on fillets smoked. All fish analyzed were below the action level except skin-on siscowets with > 0.3 ppm action level for chlordane. Cooked lake trout had significantly less residue than raw. Smoking resulted in significantly greater losses of pesticides and total PCBs than other cooking methods but analyses of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons showed significant compound formation during smoking with higher levels occurring in high fat siscowets. Overall losses of pesticides and total PCBs ranged from a low of 21% for dieldrin to a high of 39% for chlordane complex. Most of the total losses were about 30% establishing that cooking is effective in reducing residues in these Great Lakes fish.