文摘
Mercury and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) accumulate in organisms through food webs and exert potentially toxic effects on aquatic organisms and humans. This study examined the levels of mercury and PCDD/Fs in organisms and sediment samples collected from a saltwater pond at the An-Shun site, a chloralkali factory that shut down in Tainan City, Taiwan. It was also a pentachlorophenol production plant. After the factories were shut down in the 1980s, mercury and PCDD/Fs contamination remained, posing severe health hazards. The correlation between PCDD/Fs congener accumulation patterns in distinct fish organs and the sediment was evaluated. Mercury and PCDD/Fs levels in all the fish samples exceeded food safety limits, and the concentrations of mercury and PCDD/Fs in each species were closely correlated (n鈥?鈥?2, Spearman鈥檚 rank correlation [R]鈥?鈥?.811, p鈥?lt;鈥?.01). The mercury concentrations were positively but non-significantly correlated with the weight (n鈥?鈥?1, R鈥?鈥?.741, p鈥?lt;鈥?.01) and length (n鈥?鈥?1, R鈥?鈥?.618, p鈥?lt;鈥?.05) of the species. The fish likely accumulated the contaminants through ingestion of other organisms or the sediment. However, after the pollutants entered a fish, they exhibited distinct accumulation patterns because of their differing chemical properties. Specifically, the mercury concentration was correlated with organism weight and length, whereas the PCDD/Fs concentration was associated with organ lipid content. The study results are valuable for assessing the health risks associated with ingesting mercury- and PCFF/F-contaminated seafood from the study site. Keywords Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) Mercury (Hg) Biota-to-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) Lipid content Trophic level