Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine organisms from the Adriatic Sea, Italy

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in bivalves (Mitylus galloprovincialis), cephalopods (Todarodes sagittatus),crustaceans (Nephrops norvegicus) and fish (Mullus barbatus, Scomber scombrus, Micromesistius poutassou, Merluccius merluccius) in severalpools coming from the Central Adriatic Sea. These marine organisms were selected because of their multitude, wide distribution andcommon use in the Italian diet, they were sampled and analyzed during the year 2004. Acenaphthene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene,benzo(ghi)perylene and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene showed levels below the instrumental detection limit in all samples. Fluorene, phenanthrene,anthracene, fluoranthene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(k)fluoranthene were detected at differentconcentrations in analyzed samples. Chrysene was detected only in mussels with very low values (average 0.74 ng g1 wet weight). PAHscomposition pattern was dominated by the presence of PAHs with 3-rings (62%) followed from those with 4-rings (37%) and 5-rings(1%). Atlantic mackerel, European hake and blue whiting showed the highest PAH concentrations, ranging from 44.1 to 63.3 ng g1wet weight, the group of invertebrate organisms showed a level of contamination about three times lower than those of the vertebrategroups. Mediterranean mussels that did not present very high levels of contamination expressed as sum of PAHs showed one of the highestvalues of benzo(a)pyrene equivalents (BaPEs). Conversely the latter value was very low in Atlantic mackerel even if this speciesreported the highest total PAH concentrations. No significant correlation was observed between weight, length and trophic levels andtotal PAHs.[...]