Residue of PCB and Organochlorine Pesticides in Fish from Lakes and Rivers in the World

Abstract

Residue of PCB, DDT and HCH in fish from lakes and rivers in the world was reviewed from the surveys in the years of 1990's. PCB and DDT concentrations of fish in the Great Lakes of USA and Lake Baikal were higher than those in the other lakes in the world. PCB concentrations of fish in Lake Michigan were about 100 times higher than those in Lake Biwa, but there was a common feature that the PCB concentrations in both lakes were decreasing till mid '80s and have been constant since then. On the other hand, PCB concentrations of fish in the rivers around the Great Lakes of USA and River Seine and DDT and HCH concentrations of fish in River Ganges were higher than those in the other rivers in the world. The use of DDT was presumed in Russia and Kenya from the high percentage of pp'-DDT in the composition of DDT and its metabolites in the several kinds of fish in Lake Baikal and Lake Naivasha. No use of DDT was presumed in USA, Egypt and European countries from the low percentage of pp'-DDT in the lake and the river fish in the countries. High concentrations of HCH in lake and river fish could not be found in this review, but the use of technical HCH was presumed in Japan, China and Russia from the low percentage of γ-HCH in the composition of HCH isomers in the lake and the river fish in the countries. On the contrary, the use of lindane was presumed in USA and European countries from the high percentage of γ-HCH in the lake and the river fish in the countries.