Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in Baltic herring from Estonian waters, 2006–2008

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Baltic Sea herring Clupea harengus membras L. collected from Estonian coastal waters are reported. In the period 2006–2008 the total PBDE concentrations (ΣPBDE, sum of 15 congeners) in Baltic herring varied between 0.57 and 4.08 ng g−1 fresh weight. Highest ΣPBDE concentrations were in a 2007 sample from the mouth of the Gulf of Finland and in a 2007 sample from the Gulf of Riga. The former contained a high concentration of BDE 209 (16.3 ng g−1) and in the latter this congener was the second most abundant. It is not clear whether the BDE 209 concentration in the Gulf of Finland sample is not an artefact and this value was not included in the above range. The PBDE concentrations increased with the age of herring are similar to those reported in [1] in fish collected in the Bothnian Sea in 2002 and did not increase between 2002 and 2008. The majority of concentrations in herring from the Estonian coastal zone was <1.0 ng g−1 fresh weight. The PBDE congener profiles varied regionally as well as with age of the fish. The main congeners were mostly the BDEs 47, 99, and 100. Some of the variations probably caused by measurement artefacts.