Levels and congener profiles of PBDEs in edible Baltic, freshwater, and farmed fish in Finland.

Fish is the major source of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for Finnish consumers. To estimate the PBDE contamination in fish that Finns regularly consume as food, a large-scale sampling was undertaken in 2009-2010. Altogether 207 samples of 17 edible fish species were collected from commercially and recreationally important fishing areas in the Baltic Sea, freshwater lakes, and farming facilities. The analysis of 15 PBDE congeners was performed in an accredited testing laboratory with high-resolution gas chromatography mass spectrometry. In all of the samples, the Σ15PBDE varied between 0.029 and 73 ng/g fw. The most abundant congeners were BDE-47 (average proportion 42%), -99 (8.4%), -100 (11%), -154 (5.6%), and -209 (27%). High levels of BDE-209 were observed in the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Pori, in Baltic herring, perch, pike, and pike-perch. Overall, the PBDE levels in Baltic and freshwater fish were low. The levels in farmed whitefish were slightly higher than in wild whitefish. The reasons for the high BDE-209 levels in Baltic herring in Pori and the elevated levels of PBDEs in farmed whitefish should be investigated more thoroughly.