Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Fish from the Zhuyang Section of the Yangtze River and the Fushun Section of the Tuo River, China

From September to November 2010, the samples of 9 species were collected from the Zhuyang section of the Yangtze River, including Pelteobagrus vachelli, Rhinogobio cylindricus, Cyprinus carpio, Carassius auratus, Siniperca kneri, Coreius heterodon, Coreius guichenoti, Mystus macropterus, and Silurus asotus, and the samples of 6 fish species were collected from the Fushun section of the Tuo River, including Carassius auratus, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, Cyprinus carpio, Siniperca kneri, Mystus macropterus, and Silurus asotus. The sample size for each fish species ranged from 6 to 11, totaling of 192. The concentration 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in each sample were measured by accelerated solvent extraction and gas chromatography. A variety of PAHs were detected in these fish samples. Of the 9 species of fish collected from the Zhuyang section, P. vachelli had the highest total content of PAHs (PAHs) (2803.78215.37) ng/g, and S. asotus had the lowest PAHs (515.8638.80) ng/g. Of the 6 species of fish collected from the Fushun section, C. auratus had the highest PAHs (8498.571128.22) ng/g, and S. asotus had the lowest PAHs (1295.0569.69) ng/g. Five species of fish were collected from both the Zhuyang section and the Fushun section. Au from the Fushun section showed higher PAHs than their respective counterparts from the Zhuyang section S. kneri. The fishes from the Fushun section contained a higher percentage of high-molecular-weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs), while those from the Zhuyang section contained higher percentages of low-molecular-weight PAHs (LMW-PAHs) and medium-molecular-weight PAHs (MMW-PAHs). Our results suggest that the fish from the Zhuyang section and those from the Fushun section were all contaminated by PAHs. In addition, the fish from the Fushun section contain a higher percentage of HMW-PAHs but lower percentages of MMW-PAHs and LMW-PAHs, as compared with those from the Zhuyang section. This difference may be caused by the difference in pollution source of PAHs between these two river sections.