DDT Residues and Metabolites in Canadian Atlantic Coast Fish

Abstract

Concentration of p,p[image] -DDT in liver and flesh of mackerel were (0.01-2.75 ppm). Levels for p,p[image] -DDT in sea trout which spent a great deal of time in polluted estuarine and coastal waters ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 ppm in muscle and 0.01 to 0.10 in liver. These values are consistently lower than the concentrations found in mackerel. This may be related to the fact that mackerel have a higher oil content than trout. p,p -DDD, at low concentrations, was consistently found in the salmon samples studied. The presence of p,p -DDE suggests that p,p -DDT is in part metabolized to p,p -DDE in fish or that conversion occurs in an aquatic environment and the chemical concentrated by fish. Gas chromatography was used for the analyses, the analytical instrument being a Wilkens Aerograph HI-FI Model 600-C equipped with an electron capture detector.