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The levels and profiles of organochlorine (OC) contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and penta- (PeCB) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), as well as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in muscle samples of the deep-sea fish Alepocephalus rostratus, Coelorinchus mediterraneus and Lepidion lepidion and the red-shrimp Aristeus antennatus from the NW Mediterranean Sea. Mean PCB and DDT levels ranged from the highest concentrations in the fish A. rostratus (Σ(7)PCBs 6.93±0.71 ng/g w.w. and ΣDDTs 8.43±1.10 ng/g w.w.) to the lowest concentrations in the crustacean A. antennatus (Σ(7)PCBs 1.17±0.24 ng/g w.w. and ΣDDTs 2.53±0.26 ng/g w.w.). The concentrations of ΣHCHs and HCB were more than one order of magnitude lower, ranging from 0.07-0.36 ng/g w.w. and 0.03-0.15 ng/g w.w., respectively, while PeCB was only detected in a few samples. PBDE levels were approximately ten times lower than PCB and DDT concentrations, ranging from 0.47±0.20 ng/g w.w. in A. antennatus to 0.92±0.13 ng/g w.w. in A. rostratus. The high-molecular-weight PCBs 153, 138 and 180 represented 69-79% of Σ(7)PCBs in fish and 60% in the red shrimp. Moreover, in fish, the main DDT compound detected was the metabolite p,p'-DDE (70-80% of ΣDDTs), indicative of old DDT residues. In contrast, o,p'-DDE was the main DDT metabolite (49% of ΣDDTs) in shrimp, while the parent compound p,p'-DDT and its metabolite p,p'-DDE exhibited similar proportions of 16% and 21%, respectively. For PBDEs, the most abundant congeners were BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100 and 154 in fish (>70% Σ(14)PBDEs), while BDEs 153 and 209 were also important in A. antennatus, suggesting different uptake and/or biotransformation rates of PBDEs between fish and crustacea. In this sense, the ratios BDE 99/100, BDE 153/154, and BDE 47/99 were determined as proxies for BDE metabolization capacities and contrasted among species.

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Submarine canyons are regarded as a sink for pollutants. In order to determine if this theory applied to deep-sea species from an important fishing ground (the Blanes submarine canyon) located in the NW Mediterranean, we sampled the commercial fish Phycis blennoides and Micromesistius poutassou and the crustacean Aristeus antennatus. Specimens were sampled inside and outside (in the open continental slope) the submarine canyon; both are regarded as potentially affected by exposure to different anthropogenic chemicals. Several pollution biomarkers in muscle (activity of cholinesterases) and liver/hepatopancreas (catalase, glutathione S-transferases, carboxylesterases, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase in fish or mixed function oxygenase (MFO)-related reductases in crustacean, and lipid peroxidation levels) were measured. Chemical analysis of the persistent organic pollutants, namely polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) was also performed on the fish and crustacean muscle. Biomarker activities and levels were discussed in relation to pollutant exposure, habitat, and parameters including sex, size, and species. Biochemical responses and chemical analysis of PCBs evidenced interspecies differences as well as sex and size-related ones, mainly in A. antennatus. An indication of higher exposure to pollutants inside the canyon was observed, which was more clearly reflected in the fish than in the crustacean. However, further research is required to confirm this observation.