Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentration in demersal fish and shellfish from West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia 

Author(s):

Alina Mohamad ¹, Azrina Azlan ^{1, 2} *, Muhammad Rizal Razman ³, Nor Azam Ramli ⁴, Aishah A. Latiff ⁵

Recieved Date: 2012-09-18, Accepted Date: 2013-01-19

Abstract:

Fish is a good source of high-quality protein, vitamins and other essential nutrients, especially essential fatty acids (EFAs), known as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Nutritionists have suggested an intake of 35g or more of fish daily and two fatty fish-meals per week as to reduce the relative risk of death from coronary heart diseases. However, fish consumption also has been identified as one of the primary route of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This study has identified the type and level of 12 congeners of PCBs that are the most toxic to humans. The maximum permitted level of PCBs is 4 pg/g for muscles meat of fish and fishery products by World Health Organization (WHO) using 2005 WHO-TEFs. The highest amount of PCBs concentration was in Anadara granosa (cockles) with level of 2.61pg/g wet weight. Other species such as Psettodes erumei (large-scale tongue sole), Plotosus spp. (gray eel-catfish), Sepia officinalis (cuttle fish), and Macrobrachium rosenbergi (prawn) contained relatively low concentration of PCBs in their tissue collected from West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Therefore, it can be concluded that these demersal fish and shellfish are safe to consume. 

Keywords:

Fish, shellfish, polychlorinated biphenyls

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Category: Environment
Pages: 1094-1098

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