Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in sprats from the southern Baltic, 1983.

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-benzenehexachloride (BHC; HCH), p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD and p,p'-DDT (sigma DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) levels have been determined in muscle tissue of 214 sprats (Sprattus sprattus) netted during 1983 in a different regions in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. The mean levels found for sprats muscle tissue related to wet weight were: 17 micrograms HCB/kg, 33 micrograms alpha-BHC/kg, 52 micrograms beta-BHC/kg, 33 micrograms gamma-BHC/kg, delta-BHC remained undetected, 120 micrograms sigma BHC/kg, 110 micrograms p,p'-DDE/kg, o,p'-DDD remained undetected, o,p'-DDT was detected in 2 of 214 samples at the mean level 24 micrograms/kg, 94 micrograms p,p'-DDD/kg, 115 micrograms p,p'-DDT/kg, 320 micrograms sigma DDT/kg and 800 micrograms PCB/kg. The levels of organochlorine pesticides reported are two to three times higher than those reported for wet muscles of sprats sampled in the same area two years before, whilst for PCB the levels differ slightly. When based on light-petroleum extractable lipids, the corresponding levels of organochlorine pesticides were also higher and for PCB the residue levels dropped. The results are compared with levels found in sprats collected in a different regions of the Baltic Sea during 1969-1983, and reported previously by other authors.