Although the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been banned for several decades, they are still present in the environment and are occasionally mechanically released from sediment or transferred through the trophic chain. Field analyses have established correlations between exposure to PCBs and alterations in fish physiology including reproductive function. Experimental exposures have been mainly performed using dioxin-like PCBs or other congeners at very high concentrations. However, these studies are often difficult to relate to real-life conditions. In the present study, we performed a life-cycle exposure using zebrafish model and mixtures representative of some environmental situations in terms of doses, composition and containing mainly non dioxin-like congeners. Exposure was performed through diet which is the main contamination route in the field. We demonstrated a bioaccumulation of PCBs in males and females as well as a maternal transfer to the eggs. Survival, growth and organ size were similar for all conditions. Several reproductive traits were altered after exposure to a PCB-contaminated diet, including a reduction in the number of fertilized eggs per spawn as well as an increase of the number of poorly fertilized spawns. This latter observation was found irrespective of the sex of contaminated fish. This is related to modifications of ovary histology revealing a decrease of maturing follicles and an increase of atretic follicles in the ovaries of females exposed to PCBs. These results indicate that exposure to PCBs mixtures mimicking some environmental situations, including mainly non dioxin-like congeners, can lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of offspring produced by a female over a lifetime. This is of great concern for wild species living under natural conditions.

The main objective of this work was to establish the influence of sex, maturity and reproduction on the contamination of the demersal fish Merluccius merluccius by organochlorine compounds. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'DDE were quantified in muscle, liver and gonads of female and male hakes collected in the Gulf of Lions in 2004 and 2005. Observed levels appeared higher than the population of the Bay of Biscay and lower than the population of the Thyrrenian Sea. Contaminant fingerprints were roughly constant whatever the studied organ and the hake biological condition. Concentrations varied significantly according to the sex and maturity of hakes. Mature specimens were more contaminated than immature, and males presented higher levels than females. This sex effect can be linked to a lower growth rate of males, and a contaminant elimination during female spawning. Gonadal contamination depends on the importance of lipid content and increases with the maturation degree. Although the main organ of energy and PCB storage is the liver, muscle appears as the main contributor to the gonad contamination.

Bioaccumulation is difficult to document because responses differ among chemical compounds, with environmental conditions, and physiological processes characteristic of each species. We use a mechanistic model, based on the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory, to take into account this complexity and study factors impacting accumulation of organic pollutants in fish through ontogeny. The bioaccumulation model proposed is a comprehensive approach that relates evolution of hake PCB contamination to physiological information about the fish, such as diet, metabolism, reserve and reproduction status. The species studied is the European hake (Merluccius merluccius, L. 1758). The model is applied to study the total concentration and the lipid normalised concentration of 4 PCB congeners in male and female hakes from the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean sea) and the Bay of Biscay (NE Atlantic ocean). Outputs of the model compare consistently to measurements over the life span of fish. Simulation results clearly demonstrate the relative effects of food contamination, growth and reproduction on the PCB bioaccumulation in hake. The same species living in different habitats and exposed to different PCB prey concentrations exhibit marked difference in the body accumulation of PCBs. At the adult stage, female hakes have a lower PCB concentration compared to males for a given length. We successfully simulated these sex-specific PCB concentrations by considering two mechanisms: a higher energy allocation to growth for females and a transfer of PCBs from the female to its eggs when allocating lipids from reserve to eggs. Finally, by its mechanistic description of physiological processes, the model is relevant for other species and sets the stage for a mechanistic understanding of toxicity and ecological effects of organic contaminants in marine organisms.

Experiments were performed on juvenile sole in controlled conditions in the aim of understanding how the biology of common sole may affect the accumulation and dilution of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The fish were raised in optimal conditions and divided into two tanks: one control tank and one PCB tank. 4 PCB congeners were added to food for 3 months in the PCB tank; the soles were subsequently fed unspiked food for 3 months. Growth (length and weight) and PCB concentrations were monitored in both tanks and juvenile sole growth was not significantly affected by PCBs in our experimental conditions. We used the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory to model sole biology and paid special attention to model calibration through the wide use of data from the literature. The model accurately reproduced fish growth in both tanks. We coupled a bioaccumulation model to reproduce the concentration dynamics of the 4 PCB congeners used. This model did not require additional calibration and was dependent solely on the growth model and PCB concentrations in food. The bioaccumulation model accurately simulated PCB accumulation in fish, but overestimated PCB concentrations in fish during the dilution phase. This may suggest that in addition to PCB dilution due to growth, PCB concentrations decreased due to other PCB elimination mechanisms. Finally, we discussed potential improvements to the model and its future applications.

Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in the muscle and liver of European hakes (Merluccius merluccius, L.) from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts (France). The liver was always the most contaminated organ by both groups of compounds. Hakes from the Gulf of Lions (Mediterranean) present concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs 1.6 to 13.5 times higher than hakes of a similar size from the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic). Although PCBs present higher levels compared to PBDEs, their concentrations were significantly correlated. The contaminant patterns in hakes were similar in the two studied areas, and were dominated by higher chlorinated PCBs (CB153, 138, 180 and 170), and lower brominated PBDEs congeners (BDE47, 100, 49, and 99). Concentrations globally increase with hake size, and males appear to be more contaminated than females of the equivalent size. However, the compound levels also depend on the physiological status of fish.