PCB and mercury in eels in the Netherlands, 1980-2000
Developments in PCBs in eels
The levels of PCB 153 in eel from the IJsselmeer have been far below the consumption standard of 500 ng/g of fish for years. In the large rivers, there are occasional exceedances of this standard (not shown). Health risks caused by PCBs are only likely if eel from those areas of the Netherlands heavily polluted with PCBs is consumed on a regular basis (Pieters et al., 2001).
Developments in mercury in eels
Since the late 1980s the average mercury content in eel from the Haringvliet-Oost has fallen by 0.9 µg/g to 0.4 µg/g in 1998. The mercury content of eel from the Rhine and Meuse has remained about the same in the last fifteen years. It is now around 0.2 µg/g, keeping it below the consumption standard of 1 µ mercury/g eel (Pieters et al., 2001).
Dioxins and furans in eels (not in the figure)
In 2000 and 2001, no exceedances were found for dioxins and furans in eels of the then prevailing Dutch Standard of 8 pg WHO TEQ (Van Leeuwen et al. 2002; De Vries 2001 and 2002). Since 1 July 2002, an EU standard has applied to all fish of 4 pg WHO TEQ (Netherlands Government Gazette, 2001). Eels have been found at various locations with levels that exceed this standard.
