Food chains organochlorines

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) ai e toxic compounds of anthropogenous origin, able to accumulate in tissues of alive organisms and to cause different diseases. These compounds ai e the most dangerous for aquatic ecosystems as they easily adsorb in sludge and ai e included in food chains of biota. Humans consume PCBs and OCPs mostly with fish. 

Borga, K., Gabrielsen, G.W., and Skaare, J.U. (2001). Biomagnification of organochlorines along a Barents sea food chain. Environmental Pollution 113, 187-198. 

Paasivirta, J., J. Sarkka, K. Surma-Aho, T. Humppi, T. Kuokkanen, and M. Marttinen. 1983. Food chain enrichment of organochlorine compounds and mercury in clean and polluted lakes of Finland. Chemosphere 12 239-252. 

Norstrom, R.J., M. Simon, D.C.G. Muir, and R.E. Schweinsburg. 1988. Organochlorine contaminants in Arctic marine food chains identification, geographical distribution, and temporal trends in polar bears. Environ. Sci. Technol. 22 1063-1071. 

Winter, S. and B. Streit. 1992. Organochlorine compounds in a three-step terrestrial food chain. Chemosphere 24 1765-1774. 

Due to organochlorines dissolving in fats and oil, bioaccumulation in the food chain may occur. Figure 4 shows the simulation of the accumulation of a substance in fatty tissues under a regular intake. 

Dewailly E, Ayotte P, Bruneau S, et al. 1993. Inuit exposure to organochlorines through the aquatic food chain in arctic Quebec. Environmental Health Perspectives 101 618-620. 

Ruus, A., K. I. Ugland, O. Espeland, and J. V. Skaare, Organochlorine contaminants in a local marine food chain from Jarfjord, Northern Norway , Marine Environ. Res., 48, 131-146 (1999). 

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