Pentachlorobenzene and Hexachlorobenzene in Fish in the Gulf of Gdańsk*

Fish (herring, cod, eelpout, round goby, flounder, perch, lamprey, pikeperch, sand eel and lesser sand eel) caught in the Gulf of Gdansk in 1992 contained the residues of penta(PCBz) and hexachlorobenzene (HCBz) in concentrations from 0.09 to 0.75 and from 0.36 to 3.7 ng/g wet weight (3.3-14 and 6.5-41 ng/g lipid weight), respectively. Both compounds were identified and quantified using capillary gas chromatography and low resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/LRMS) after a non-destructive extraction and clean-up step with a semipermeable polyethylene membrane and further fractionation on the Florisil column. A higher HCBz/PCBz ratio indicated in some species of fish caught near the city of Gdynia when compared to the specimens caught close to the city of Gdansk indicated the existence of a slight local source of pollution with HCBz in the area of the seaport of the city of Gdynia.