Contaminants in European Hake (Merluccius merluccius) from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean - Contaminants in European Hake

Abstract

In this study, a comprehensive survey of contaminants in European Hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) from Norwegian waters has been carried out. The concentrations of heavy metals and several different organic pollutants in fillet (n = 788) and liver (n = 31) of European Hake were generally low. The pollution concentrations were largely well below the EU and Norwegian limit values for mercury, cadmium, lead, sum dioxins, sum dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs and the sum non-dioxin-like PCBs (PCB6) that apply to fish muscle for human consumption. The concentrations of contaminants in European Hake varied slightly by geography and body size, roughly in the same way for all contaminants. For European Hake, no clear geographical trend was observed except for a hotspot near the Kollevåg historic waste disposal site near Askøy, Norway. This study showed that although European Hake are long-lived, marine apex predators, the concentrations of contaminants in fillets from this species largely had a pollution exposure regime that was low.

Contaminants in European Hake (Merluccius merluccius) from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean - Contaminants in European Hake