Persistent organochlorines in 13 shark species from offshore and coastal waters of Korea: Species-specific accumulation and contribut- ing factors Hyun-Kyung Lee a , Yunsun Jeong a , Sunggyu Lee a , Woochang Jeong a , Eun-Jung Choy b , Chang-Keun Kang c , Won-Chan Lee d , Sang-Jo Kim e , Hyo-Bang Moon a,n a Department of Marine Sciences and Convergent Technology, College of Science and Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea b Korea Polar Research Institute, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Incheon 406-840, Republic of Korea c School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea d National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), Busan 619-705, Republic of Korea e National Fisheries Products Quality Management Service, Goyang 410-315, Republic of Korea article info Article history: Received 7 January 2015 Received in revised form 9 February 2015 Accepted 10 February 2015 Keywords: Organochlorines PCBs OCPs Inter-species difference Cancer risk abstract Data on persistent organochlorines (OCs) in sharks are scarce. Concentrations of OCs such as poly- chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined in the muscle tissue of 13 shark species (n ¼105) collected from offshore (Indian and Pacific Oceans) and coastal waters of Korea, to investigate species-specific accumulation of OCs and to assess the potential health risks asso- ciated with consumption of shark meat. Overall OC concentrations were highly variable not only among species but also within the same species of shark. The concentrations of PCBs, DDTs, chlordanes, hexa- chlorobenzene, and heptachlor in all shark species ranged from oLOQ (limit of quantification) to 184 (mean: 35.0), oLOQ to 1135 (58.2), oLOQ to 56.2 (4.31), oLOQ to 18.8 (1.64) and oLOQ to 77.5 (1.37)ng/g lipid weight, respectively. The determined concentrations of PCBs and DDTs in shark in our study were relatively lower than those reported in other studies. Aggressive shark species and species inhabiting the Indian Ocean had the highest levels of OCs. Inter-species differences in the concentrations and accumulation profiles of OCs among shark species could be explained by differences in feeding habit and sampling locations. Several confounding factors such as growth velocity, trophic position, and re- gional contamination status may affect the bioaccumulation of OCs in sharks. Hazard ratios of non-cancer risk for all the OCs were below one, whereas the hazard ratios of lifetime cancer risks of PCBs and DDTs exceeded one, implying potential carcinogenic effects in the general population in Korea. This is the first report to document the occurrence of OCs in sharks from Korea. & 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Organochlorines (OCs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are ubiquitous con- taminants on a global scale. Because of their persistent and bioaccumulative characters, OCs occur and accumulate in wildlife (Gelsleichter et al., 2005; Nakata et al., 2005; Moon et al., 2010) and humans (Bergonzi et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2013). PCBs and OCPs have adverse health effects such as developmental toxicity, cancer, and endocrine disruption (Beard, 2006; Foster et al., 2012). PCBs and OCPs are regulated by the Stockholm Convention as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 2001 (Fielder et al., 2013). In Korea, ap- proximately 4300 tons of PCBs and 3600 tons of OCPs were pro- duced up till the 1990s (Breivik et al., 2002). Although the en- vironmental levels of PCBs and OCPs have decreased considerably over the past three decades (Isobe et al., 2009; Sericano et al., 2014), these contaminants are still present in wildlife and human (Corsolini et al., 1995; Storelli and Marcotrigiano, 2001; Davis et al., 2002; Park et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2013). Sharks are cartilaginous fish and usually consume plankton, mollusks, crustaceans, and bony fishes (Parker, 2008). Some ag- gressive sharks (e.g. blue and white sharks) hunt large fishes, seabirds, marine mammals, and even other sharks (Parker, 2008). Due to their high trophic position, long life-span, and relatively low metabolic capacity, sharks contain high levels of POPs (John- son-Restrepo et al., 2005). However, few studies are available on accumulation of OCs in sharks, with only one or few species and Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoenv Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2015.02.021 0147-6513/& 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Fax: þ82 31 408 6255. E-mail address: hbmoon@hanyang.ac.kr (H.-B. Moon). Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 115 (2015) 195–202