Evaluation of the Contamination Profile of Oysters from Soumbedioune/Dakar/Senegal Beach by PCB-DL

Contamination of the marine environment by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is a worrying issue. So-called "dioxin-like" PCBs in particular are pollutants that are widely dispersed in the environment. Furthermore, due to their affinity with fatty tissues, they are highly bioaccumulated by aquatic species. In return, these organisms consumed by humans as food can be a source of contamination. Hence the interest in studying these biological matrices in order to become aware of the risks of degradation of aquatic ecosystems. In this work, the contamination profile of oysters from Soumbedioune beach by DL-PCBs (PCB81; 114; 118; 123; 126; 167; 169; 189) was studied. The analysis method used is Gas Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The average levels of the different campaigns of July, August and September 2021 are respectively 28.218; 119.863; 48.053 µg/Kg in dry weight in oysters. These levels are above the maximum limit according to European Commission Regulation No. 1881/2006 (0.008 µg/Kg). Thus we estimated the exposure of the population to PCB-DL. The factor obtained varies from 0.005 µg/Kg to 0.28 µg/Kg for an individual of 40 Kg and from 0.002 µg/Kg to 0.17 µg/Kg for an individual of 70 Kg. In 2002, the WHO proposed a tolerable daily dose of 0.02 µg/kg/body weight per day for all PCBs. According to these results, the contamination status of Soumbedioune beach is worrying and the consumption of these oysters as food could prove problematic for health. Consequently, a synergy involving the stakeholders, namely the populations, industrialists, authorities and the scientific community, could lead to better solutions. To do this, it is necessary to treat the effluents that are discharged into this coastline and to raise awareness among the populations of the consequences of the contamination of the marine environment.