From: "howgate" <phowgate@rsc.co.uk>
To: <depsani@chilesat.net>; "seafood" <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: contaminación de alimentos con hidrocarburos
Estimados Colegas,
Estoy buscando información relativa a contaminación de peces con hidrocarburos (petróleo). Para esto necesito saber que hidorcarburos son producidos por los peces (biogénicos) y en que cantidad. Agradeceré cualquier información
Atentamente
Alejandra Alvarez
Sernapesca
Chile
Peter Howgate Wrote:
Alejandra
You ask about biogenic
hydrocarbons in fish.
A wide range of hydrocarbons are
present in the aquatic environment from natural sources, that is without
any contribution from petroleum. The biogenic hydrocarbons are predominately
alkanes with high carbon numbers, typically more than 19. They
are derived from plant and insect waxes and enter the aquatic environment
directly from organisms, plant and animals, in the aquatic environment,
or by run off from terrestrial sources, or by deposition from the
atmosphere. The biogenic hydrocarbons are characterised by a predominance
of molecules with odd-numbered carbons, whereas petroleum shows
no preference for odd- or even-numbered carbons. Aromatic hydrocarbons
are poorly represented in biogenic hydrocarbons fractions. The hydrocarbons
in the aqueous phase are taken up by organisms and bioaccumulate
up the trophic chain, hence will be found in fish, though not necessarily
produced by the fish. For a
review of the subject start with: Nevenzel, J.C., (1989), Biogenic hydrocarbons
of marine organisms, in Marine biogenic lipids, fats and oils, R.G.
Ackman, ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 3-71.
Peter Howgate