Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in five species of fish from three sites in the Arabian Gulf

A gas chromatography-mass spectrmetroic (GC-MS) method was developed to measure six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 54 fish samples. Five fish species highly consumed by the local population (shrimps, Emperors, Rabbitfish, Doublebar Bream and Greasy Grouper) were selected from three different sites on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia where agricultural, municipal and petroleum industry activities take place. Variations in PAH levels among the three sites were not significant. Total concentrations of PAHs benzo(a) anthracene, chrysene, and benzo(b) fluoranthene ranged from non-detectable to 44.9 mug kg(-1). In this study, concentrations of benzo( ) anthracene, chrysene, benzo( b) fluoranthene and total PAHs greater than the acceptable tolerance limit (1 mug kg(-1)) were found in 68.5, 40.7, 51.9 and 83.3% of the fish samples, respectively. PAH contents in fish vary considerably with species; Doublebar bream contain the highest while shrimps contain the lowest. This pilot study clearly shows that the consumption of fish could be a source of exposure of the local population to PAHs. Since there is a consensus on the substantial contribution of PAHs to cancer in humans, it would be interesting to conduct further research in order to determine the magnitude of the problem along other coastal regions of Saudi Arabia.