Analysis of all 209 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (with special reference to dioxin-like PCB congeners) in Japanese seabass and related species by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS)

We subjected edible parts of Lateolabrax japonicus and three related species collected from western Japan in the period 2007-2012 to congener-specific concentration analysis of PCBs using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). Σ PCBs ranged from 1 ng/g wet wt in Lateolabrax sp. A aquacultured in Ehime to 80 ng/g wet wt in L. japonicus from Hyogo (facing the Seto Inland Sea). Although eutrophication of the Seto Inland Sea is almost homogeneous, high Σ PCB concentrations were restricted to the eastern sector. In most of the fish, penta- to hepta-chlorinated congeners were dominant. The low Σ PCB concentrations measured in aquacultured seabass from Ehime might be related to the provision of low-contaminant feeds. The toxic equivalent (TEQ) of dioxin-like PCBs ranged from <0.1 to 1.4 pg/g wet wt, values that are within the “safe levels for human-consumption criteria” used by the Japanese government.