Organochlorines in Pleuronectidae: comparison between three tissues of three species inhabiting the Northwest Atlantic.

Muscle, liver, and gonad from three species of flatfish, turbot, American plaice, and yellowtail flounder collected in the Northwest Atlantic were analyzed for a variety of organochlorine contaminants. Female flounder and plaice had lower concentrations of organochlorines than males, in all tissues. Comparing values to those previously obtained for Atlantic cod showed that concentrations in liver, the organ most often used in biomarker studies, followed the order: cod > turbot > plaice > flounder and correlated with lipid content. Muscle concentrations, which are important from a consumers perspective, followed the order: turbot > plaice > flounder > cod and were also correlated with lipids. The concentration of contaminants in gonads, the organ that informs on the future of a species were nearly undetectable. Cluster analyses demonstrated that the environmental behaviour of these contaminants can be subdivided into groups, consistent with their known chemical origin. Of the series of total and specific polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans studied, only tetrachlorodibenzofuran was present in most tissues.