Studies on the Influence of PCB on Aquatic organisms-III

Relationship between the intake of PCB and its accumulation in various tissues of Carp

Abstract

Carp, Cyprinus carpio, were fed for 7 and 20 days, respectively, with diets containing 5, 25 and 100 ppm of PCB (Aroclor 1248) and analyzed gas chromatographically for its accumulation in various tissues.
PCB was detected in all the tissues analyzed. In hepatopancreas, the greatest amount of PCB was found. It was followed by the intestine, kidney, gill, skin, and ordinary muscle. The amount of accumulation seemed almost parallel to the crude fat content in the tissue. Accumulation factors were different among the tissues. The gas chromatographic patterns of the once- absorbed PCB was generally different from that of the standard PCB mixture administered. With the hepatopancreas, gill, and kidney, contents of the lowly chlorinated PCB isomers were relatively increased, while those of the highly chlorinated PCB isomers decreased. With the ordinary muscle, an inverse tendency was recognized. However, no marked changes in the PCB pattern were observed in the intestine. The results suggest that each isomer of PCB is almost equally absorbed from the intestinal tract and transported to the different tissues in carp.