The High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Oysters from the Intertidal and Subtidal Zones of Chinhae Bay, Korea

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAMs) are ubiquitous contaminants in marine environments. PAMs enter estuarine and nearshore marine environment via several routes such as combustion of fossil fuels, domestic and industrial effluents and oil spills. PAHs have been the focus of numerous studies in the world because they are potentially carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic to aquatic organisms and humans from consuming contaminated food. However, one can hardly find any available data on PAM content in marine organisms in Korea. The present study was carried out in order to determine PAM content in oysters from the intertidal and subtidal zones of Chinhae Bay, which is located in near urban communities and an industrial complex, and the bay is considered to be a major repositories of PAHs. 16 PAHs were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with uv/vis and fluorescence detectors in oysters: they are naphthalene (NPTHL), acenaphthylene (ANCPL), acenaphthylene (ACNPN), fluorene (FLURN), phenanthrene (PHEN), anthracene (ANTHR), fluoranthene (FLRTH), pyrene (PYR), benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), chrysene (CHRY), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(k)fluoranthene (BkF), benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), dibenz(a,h)anthracene(DahA), benzo(g,h,i)peryne (BghiP) and indeno(1,2,3,-cd)pyrene (I123cdP). The PAM contents in oysters from the intertidal and subtidal zones of Chinhae Bay ranged from < 0.1 to 992.0 ug/kg (mean $69.8\pm9.8$ ug/kg).