PCDD/Fs and PCBs in Baltic herring during the 1990s

Baltic herring samples caught from the Baltic Sea during the spring periods of 1993–1994 and 1999 were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). For analyses, 1570 individual herring were combined to 120 pools. Correlations between concentrations of congeners 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, and 2,3,4,6,7,8-HxCDF, and age of herring were the strongest (r>0.8) followed by correlations between PCB congeners PCB 105, 118, 126, 156, 169 and 180 (r>0.7), and age of herring. Due to higher fat percentage in herring in the Gulf of Bothnia the concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs on fresh weight (fw) basis were higher than in herring in the Gulf of Finland. The concentrations of WHOPCDD/F-TEQs ranged from 1 to 27 pg/g fw, depending on the age and catchment area of herring, and concentrations of WHOPCB-TEQs reached 32 pg/g fw. Between the two studied time points no clear downward trend in concentrations was observed.