Exposure of Estonian coastal fishermen to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs

Fish contains beneficial nutritional compounds, such as long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs), and vitamin D. High fish consumption and high omega-3 PUFA intake may protect against several diseases. Conversely, fish may also contain various persistent environmental contaminants, such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  
The Baltic Sea area is heavily contaminated with persistent organic pollutants. The results obtained so far show that eating fish twice a week is not harmful to human health. Situation could be different, when we will be looking at coastal fishermen, who eat significantly more fish.  
Aim of this study was to assess the extent of coastal fishermen exposure to the total amount of PCDD, PCDF and DL-PCB obtained from fish and fish products. The consumption survey for coastal fisherman was carried out in May 2010. During the peak of the fishing seasons the fishermen and their families eat more fish than usual and obtain the toxins in quantities larger than yearly average. The evaluation of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs exposure, based on total quantities of fish consumed in a week, indicates that the current dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs exposure of coastal fisherman is above the TDI. Therefore it is advisable that, coastal fishermen and their families significantly increase the consumption of low-fat fish and reduce the consumption of fatty fish.