PCB contamination in farmed and wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) from a coastal wetland area in central Italy

Food consumption is by far the main exposure route for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for the general population, and fish and fishery products seem to be the main contributors to the total dietary intake of these pollutants. In recent years some investigations have suggested that farmed fish may be more significantly contaminated than wild fish, because of polluted feed. This study measured the levels of PCBs in wild and farmed sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax L.), one of the most valuable and popular fish in the Italian diet, and assessed the exposure to these pollutants through fish intake. Concentrations of ∑ 59 PCBs and dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs), as toxic equivalency (TEQ), in fish samples, ranged from 2.2 to 32 ng g −1 and from 0.1 to 4.0 pg TEQ (2006) DL-PCBs g −1 whole weight, respectively. Farmed sea bass were as average two times more contaminated. Even if the concentrations of DL-PCBs were below the regulation limits, intake of these compounds from nine fish meals per month can in itself exceed the WHO Provisional Tolerable Monthly Intake (PTMI).