Accumulation of neurotoxic organochlorines and trace elements in brain of female European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Publication date: Available online 21 June 2016 Source:Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology Author(s): C. Bonnineau, D. Scaion, B. Lemaire, C. Belpaire, J-P. Thomé, M. Thonon, M. Leermaker, Y. Gao, C. Debier, F. Silvestre, P. Kestemont, J-F. Rees Xenobiotics such as organochlorine compounds (OCs) and metals have been suggested to play a significant role in the collapse of European eel stocks in the last decades. Several of these pollutants could affect functioning of the nervous system. Still, no information is so far available on levels of potentially neurotoxic pollutants in eel brain. In present study, carried out on female eels caught in Belgian rivers and canals, we analyzed brain levels of potentially-neurotoxic trace elements (Ag, Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, MeHg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, Sb, Zn) and OCs (Polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs; Hexachlorocyclohexanes, HCHs; Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites, DDTs). Data were compared to levels in liver and muscle tissues. Eel brain contained very high amounts of OCs, superior to those found in the two other tissues. Interestingly, the relative abundance of PCB congeners markedly differed between tissues. In brain, a predominance of low chlorinated PCBs was noted, whereas highly chlorinated congeners prevailed in muscle and liver. HCHs were particularly abundant in brain, which contains the highest amounts of β-HCH and ϒ-HCH. p,p’-DDTs concentration was similar between brain a...
Source: Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research