Pesticidas Organoclorados (OCPs) em peixes comerciais capturados na Baía de Guanabara do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Abstract

Brazil is among the world’s largest fish producers, and the state of Rio de Janeiro is one of the main responsible for this production. In addition, there is a substantial increase in fish consumption which is associated to its functional and nutritional properties, such as its lipid profile. Today the hydrographic bays of Rio de Janeiro suffer the impacts of excessive use of toxic substances, such as Organoclorine Pesticides (OCPs), which has a characteristic lipophilicity and tend to accumulate in adipose tissue of organisms. As a consequence, this may pose risk to consumers of fish from polluted environments. The human exposure to these pollutants is highly related to health problems, such as cancer, immunity diseases and endocrine disruptions. Thus, the present study aims at investigating the occurence of OCPs in sardine (Sardinella brasiliensis), whitemouth croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) and mullet (Mugil liza) from Guanabara Bay, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and also to estimate the OCPs intake through fish consumption. The analyses were carried out at the Laboratory of de Radioisotopes Eduardo Penna Franca at UFRJ. The analitical steps included sohxlet extration, purification and subsequent injection in a Gas Chromatography system coupled to a Mass Spectrometer on Negative Chemical Ionization mode (GC/MS/ENCI) to determine the OCPs concentrations. The estimative of the toxic compound intake was performed based on the obtained data for OCP in fish samples, the fish intake of the brazilian population, andavailable data of Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for each investigated pesticide. All samples had at least one OCP. Metoxichlor had the highest concentration for the three studied species. There was significant difference between the species concerning the concentration of o,p’-DDD and o,p’-DDT. These DDT metabolites were found at higher concentration in sardine samples in comparison to croaker and mullet ones. However, there was no significant difference between the species in relation to ΣOCP. It was evidenced the greater proportion of DDE among the DDT metabolites which suggests the past use of this pesticide. Results for ᵞ-HCH isomer indicate the contamination by the use of Lindane instead of the technical HCH mixture. There was no significant difference among the contamination of the three studied species in regard to sample's acquisition locations, showing that the locality does not influence the content of OCPs in fish, probably due the species behavior which travel big distances along the brazilian coast throughout their life cycle. No sample exceeded the maximum residue limit stipulated for OCPs at both national or international level. Based on the estimated intake data no species exceeded the toxicological safety parameter. Thus, the three studied fish species can be considered safe for human consumptiom in regard to OCPs exposure