Reduction of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) In Fresh Fish from the Grand Lahou Lagoon for Healthy Consumption

The Grand Lahou lagoon system receives numerous spills from inland waters. This results in various forms of chemical pollution. Two species of fish most consumed by the Grand Lahou population are contaminated with high levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). The objective of this study is to reduce the levels of PCBs in both fish species in order to provide consumers with healthy fish. The fish species most contaminated with PCBs, namely a type of catfish called ‘‘machoiron’’ (Chrysichthys sp.) and the mullet (Mugil sp.) were collected according to their weight (category 1:101-200g and category 2: 201-300g). Smoking has been proposed to reduce PCB levels. Thus two smoking techniques were used: smoking the fish traditionally using firewood as fuel and smoking on barbecue with charcoal. The level of PCB contamination in fish was determined by the gas chromatograph coupled with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results obtained show that the smoking techniques used reduce the PCBi content. Wood smoking eliminates 98% of PCBs from fish compared to 88% for charcoal smoking.