Interim report of the HELCOM CORESET project

the threshold values. In bivalves and sediments, it was found to exceed the threshold value in the southern
and south-western sea areas. Benzo(b)fl uoranthene was found to exceed the threshold values in sediments
in all the other basins except Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. However, the threshold value for benzo(b)
fl uoranthene is not normalized to sediment carbon and therefore the spatial comparison may be misleading
due to different sea bed characteristics (HELCOM 2010).
Detectable concentrations of anthracene have been found in fi sh from Swedish background stations. It has
been measured in sediment from the Stockholm area (with concentrations falling inversely with distance
from central Stockholm) and homogeneous coastal samples, indicating small local impact. It has also been
measured in detectable concentrations in water areas sampled with the use of passive sampling devices.
Fluoranthene is frequently present in fi sh from Swedish background stations, and also found in sediment
and sludge. It has been found in all water samples from Sweden taken by means of passive sampling devices,
and it is detectable in groundwater samples (Swedish EPA 2009).
Proportion of fish with
values < / � BAC
1998 - 2008
< 17 ng/ml �
Figure 3.3. 1-Hydroxypyrene in bile fl uids of dab, fl ounder and cod caught between 1998 and 2007 categorized
by the species overarching BAC of 17 ng/ml. Proportion of single fi sh per station are categorized
in relation to BAC (SGIMC 2010)
Clear differences in PAH metabolite concentration in fi sh bile between the lower contaminated central
North Sea and the higher contaminated western Baltic Sea have been detected (Figure 3.3). In distance
of point sources there are no temporal trends detectable in dab and fl ounder from the North Sea and the
western Baltic Sea caught during 1997 and 2004 (Kammann 2007). Lower values than in North Sea (dab,
cod, fl ounder, haddock) and Baltic Sea (fl ounder, cod, herring, Vuorinen et al. 2006; eelpout) have been
detected in Barents Sea (cod) and near Iceland (dab). Higher concentrations are present in fi sh caught in
harbour regions or in coastal areas (eelpout, Kammann and Gercken 2010).
Strengths and weaknesses of data
For tracing sources of alkylated versions of PAHs would be preferred over the parent PAHs. E.g. Sweden
will include alkylated versions in 2011 in monitoring in order to evaluate whether they should be included
in the yearly monitoring program.
References
Ariese F, Beyer J, Jonsson G, Porte Visa C, Krahn MM (2005) Review of analytical methods for determining
metabolites of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in fi sh bile. ICES Techniques in Marine Environmental
Sciences No. 39
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