![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.125in" height="4.588888888888889in"}

# 

# 

# 

# Authors: 

Bjarki Hjálmarsson

Helga Hjartardóttir

Hjörleifur Guðnason

School:

Barnaskóli Vestmannaeyja, Iceland

# [Abstract]{.underline} 

# In this report we will inform you of the POPs assignment we took part in last year.

# We were supposed to find out how much PBDEs and PCBs (chemicals) Icelandic cod contained. To start with we had to go fishing. We brought the fish to the "lab" and took out the liver and otoliths and put them frozen in a container which we sent to NILU in Norway, were scientists examined them. We collected data and used methods described by NILU. Finally our data was compared to data from all the other schools participating in POPs. Our conclusion is that Icelandic fish contains rather large amounts of PCB, or at least bigger than we expected, but very little PBDE.

# [Research question and background information -- a little about POPs]{.underline} 

The POPs project is a side project to the GLOBE program and all schools
participating are GLOBE schools. The countries that take part are, apart
from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Canada, Finland and USA (Alaska).
The project started in 2001 and will finish in August, next year (2004).

The main goals of the project are to increase the knowledge of POPs
(Persistent Organic Pollutants) and general environmental sciences,
investigate the distribution and levels of new POPs such as brominated
flame retardants (PBDEs) in the Arctic region, and contribute to the
documentation and public awareness of new POPs in the Arctic.

Procedures for sampling are developed by scientists so all schools are
able to do the sampling in a scientifically correct manner, and what is
not less important, they all do it in the same way. Samples are taken
from local fish species, requiring that the students get hold of fresh
fish and carefully cut filet or liver samples while following protocol
exactly so that the samples can be used for scientific research. NILU
(Norwegian Institute for Air Research) analyses the samples for PCBs and
PBDEs. The findings are published on the internet. The schools then
evaluate the data and write a report of their sampling process, as well
as evaluations, by comparing their results to other school's findings
and/or scientific literature. Results of the project will probably be
published in international scientific journals.
([www.nilu.no/niluweb/services/arcticpops](http://www.nilu.no/niluweb/services/arcticpops))

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="1.625in"
height="1.5493055555555555in"}What are PCBs and PBDEs and how do they
affect nature?

Irresponsible or excessive use of pesticides and industrial chemicals
contributes to the high levels of pollutants that are found in polar
bears and other species. Most countries no longer use PCBs[^1] but as a
result of their slow degradation and the fact that emissions have
continued for many years, the compounds are also being transported to
the Arctic ecosystems and end up in polar bears.

Because they are very soluble in fat, persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) readily enter food chains, especially in the marine environment.
These compounds accumulate in fat deposits a process known as
bioaccumulation, and thus become more concentrated in higher organisms
that prey upon lower organisms. Storing energy as fat is crucial for
survival in cold environments and fat is therefore important in the
diets of both people and animals, which also increase the intake of
these pollutants. The combined characteristics of being fat-soluble and
persistent make biomagnifications a major concern. Biomagnifications are
the increase in contaminant load as predators take on the chemicals
eaten by their prey, thus further concentrating the toxic material at
each successive level of the food web. Indeed, the highest levels of
persistent contaminants are usually found in top predators. Studies of
![](media/image3.png){width="2.375in"
height="1.6465277777777778in"}species at different levels of an Arctic
marine food web show that each step can mean a several-fold increase in
body burdens of organic contaminants.

In our research, we mainly focused on PBDE because that's a rather new
substance in nature and the effects on nature are not fully known. PCB
is used in the research as a substance for comparison because it's been
around for many years and the effects it has on nature are quite well
known.

**Our research question is:** **How much PCB and PBDE is found in fish
around Iceland and what is the difference between the contents here and
in other places in the Arctic?**

# [Research method]{.underline}

**Procedure I**

# ![](media/image4.jpeg){width="1.7833333333333334in" height="2.2583333333333333in"}The investigation took us to sea in a boat from the Sea Research Facility. Fish was sampled east -- north -- east of Heimaey. The fish, later discovered to be cod, was caught with a line. In total there were 8 cods caught. The fish was wrapped in aluminum foil to minimize the risk of getting in contact with plastic because most plastics contain some amounts of POPs and therefore any contact could affect the results. The fish was then put on ice for 24 hours. The weather was quite good when the fishing boat went out to sea, although the sea was not still and one member of the group got seasick and threw up. The sampling process went quite well and no major problems came up. 

# 

# Description of sampling area

# The sampling took place on October 16^th^ and 17^th^ 2002 out on the Atlantic ocean. Cod (Gadus morhua) was fished at 63° 27921 N and 20°14342 W. The method was fishing line. The nearest town is Westman Islands (Heimaey) and the only industry close is a fish factory. 

# 

# ![](media/image6.jpeg){width="2.0in" height="1.2631944444444445in"}Procedure II:

# **First of all we had to cover all areas that were going to be in contact with the fish samples with aluminum foil.** One fish was used as a test subject, and the teachers displayed how to do an autopsy on a fish. Then individual jobs were handed out. The jobs were one writer and two people who took care of each fish and also took the measurements of the fish. 

# Equipment used for sampling: **Balances for total body weight and possibly gonad weight** **Square (angle iron) or similar device for measuring the total length** **Gloves** **One scalpel handle for each fish** **One pair of scissors for each fish** **One large pair of forceps for each fish** **One knife and one small pair of forceps for the otoliths of all three fish** **Aluminum foil** **One sample data sheet for each fish sample** **One scale envelope for each fish** **Camera** **White paper, pencil, permanent pen** **Two zip-lock plastic bags for each fish; one for the sample, one for data sheets and scale envelope** 

# 

![](media/image7.jpeg){width="2.75in" height="2.0in"}**The sample's
total length and body weight were measured before it was cut. To find
the total length of the fish we measured the distance from the tip if
the nose to the tip of the longest caudal fin ray. The information was
written on the data sheet.**

![](media/image8.jpeg){width="2.5in" height="2.0in"}**Now it was time to
cut out the liver. The fish was opened with a scalpel and a pair of
scissors. We had to remove the liver without touching it with our hands
and without cutting open the bile bladder because the bile could affect
the results. Cutting out the liver without touching it with our gloves
was hard but finally we managed to get it out in one piece.**

**We also needed to remove the gonads. The gonads in the female cod are
the ovaries which are red or pink and filled with eggs during the mating
season. In male cods the gonads are the testes which are very similar to
the female gonads except during the mating season. The gonads help tell
the maturation stage of the cod. If the cod is too young it may not have
any visible gonads or they may look like thin ribbons of tissue a few
centimeters in length. The fish is mature if the gonads take up half of
the fish's body cavity during the mating season.**

After that, the skull was opened and the otoliths removed by **pushing
the brain of the fish aside so we could see the otoliths. We removed
them with a pair of small forceps. The otoliths are part of the cod's
vestibular apparatus and are located inside the cranial cavity. They are
made up of calcium carbonate and protein and function as sound
receptors. The otoliths also help the fish's balance and orientation. We
needed the otoliths because they help provide the age, growth rate, life
history, recruitment, and taxonomy of the particular individual cod.
Soft paper was wrapped around the otoliths before they were put into a
scale envelope.** **The data sheet and the scale envelope for each fish
sample were put in a zip-lock bag.**

![](media/image9.jpeg){width="2.75in" height="2.0597222222222222in"}**We
did exactly the same with fish number two. The two fish samples along
with the zip-lock bag were put into a polystyrene box and we added
freezing elements to keep the samples at a low temperature. Then the box
was sealed with tape. The fish arrived at the NILU lab where chemical
analysis for this experiment was performed. Unfortunately one of the
samples got destroyed during the transfer to Norway. The rest of the
fish was taken home and cooked.**

The steps NILU supposedly did, but we were unable to verify:

![](media/image10.jpeg){width="2.75in"
height="2.060416666666667in"}**They mixed sodium sulfate in a
conventional food processor. The simple combination of sodium sulfate's
high capacity to bind water and mechanic homogenization leads to dryness
of the fish sample. This allowed the extraction of compounds from the
fish. Part of the homogenized sample was added to the internal standard.
The internal standard is a compound that resembles the sample as much as
possible. It is also for correction of loses during sample preparation.
The fat was then extracted with an organic solvent (PCB and PBDE are
fat-soluble).** **The sample was cleaned before it was analyzed. The
first step was to remove fat without removing analytes. The sample was
put into a column, filled with porous packing material, and pushed
through the column by organic solvents. Biological materials contain fat
proteins and peptides which all disturb the analytical procedure. These
substances must be removed before the analysis takes place. The final
step of the clean-up process was chromatography on a column system
filled with aluminum oxide. The volume of the cleaned extract was
reduced so that the concentrations of the analyses were high enough to
be detected. The samples were ready for analysis and were added to a
recovering standard. Finally the samples were analyzed on a gas
chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer.**

# T**hen the results were sent back to us for further processing.** 

![](media/image11.jpeg){width="2.75in" height="1.9659722222222222in"}
[Data summary]{.underline}

#### Description of fish

# The first fish (Cod 1) weighed 1230 grams and had the total length of 474 mm. After looking carefully at the gonads we thought it to be female. The length of the gonads was 63 mm but our scale was not accurate enough for weighing such a light thing. The fish was not believed to be mature. It had some worms, both in the liver and also on the outside. THIS SAMPLE GOT DESTROYED DURING TRANSPORT.

# Cod 2 weighed 1460 g and had the total length of 515 mm. It was, like cod 1, thought to be female and had 80 mm long gonads that weighed 0,2 g. This sample had some scars and might have been caught in net but escaped. No heavy loads of parasites were found.

Results from analysis in Norway:

# ![](media/image12.png){width="5.748611111111111in" height="5.732638888888889in"}

<http://www.nilu.no/niluweb/leverfil.cfm/BVA2.pdf?id=4960&type=6>

# [Analysis]{.underline}

The research we started continued in Norway where the samples we sent
were examined and the amount of PCB and PBDE was measured. The data was
then sent back to us for further processing, making of report etc.

The amount of PCB came as a surprise to us because Iceland has usually
been known for its purity and Icelanders have thought of their country
and the ocean around it as a pure and untouched part of the earth. The
reason for such high concentrations of POP's can not completely be
written on our account because the Arctic works as a sink where many
substances get drawn towards the North Pole with winds, currents and ice
drift and swirl around in the Arctic. PCB has been around for a long
time and may have been carried for long distances. All the same that
doesn't free us of any mistakes we might have made in the past.

![](media/image13.jpeg){width="2.5in"
height="2.2916666666666665in"}Another aspect is that PCB concentration
varies due to age, size and fat percentage of the fish so measuring
pollutants in one or few animals does not necessarily give the right
figures of the whole ecosystem. The fish we caught were probably a few
years old and have therefore built up higher concentrations of POP's.
Also the problems associated with man-made hazardous chemicals in
northern areas are mainly associated with marine ecosystems. The levels
of organic pollutants in terrestrial species are low compared to those
that predominantly acquire their food from the ocean.

The good news is that PBDE was not found in our samples in large
amounts, only as a trace material. Hopefully the reason is that these
compounds are not widely spread around the world. Other possibilities
are that because PBDE's have been around for a rather short time they
haven't yet gathered in large quantities around the Arctic like PCB's,
although there may be some amounts of them in other parts of the world.

### Conclusions

Although the rates of PCB and PBDE are not over risk limits they give us
an idea about the affects of pollution on the environment. The amount of
Persistent Organic Pollutants in the oceans around us is worth worrying
about. We must do everything we can to prevent pollution because we have
only this one earth.

### Discussion

It's quite important to consider that there may be some disadvantages in
the progress because although we did our best in the whole procedure and
tried to follow the protocol in all major actions, we are amateurs and
not professionals. But we learned a lot from this program and hopefully
the results will be of some good to scientists working on environmental
issues.

One quite big disadvantage is that the schools participating can't all
fish the same species so any comparison is very hard. Also some use
fresh-water fish while others fish in the ocean and the timing is not
always the same. Those things can be hard to synchronize because
situations are very different in those 7 countries. At first the one of
the main goals was to compare results between schools but now the focus
is on comparing our own results between the years. A project like this
helps students to understand that many toxic substances exist in nature
and have prejudicial effects on people. Until now, we didn't think much
about how humans have really spoiled nature. It surprised us how much
toxic substance we found in the fish around our island because until now
it has been our opinion that Iceland and the sea around it are pure and
clean. The project was both fun and educational.

### Bibliography

[www.nilu.no](http://www.nilu.no/) (With permission from Polaris K12
School in Alaska and Eldbjorg Sofie Heimstad)

[^1]: PCB´s are pesticides that until recently were used in many parts
    of the world. They have great side effects.