Brominated flame retardants and Dechloranes in European and American eels from glass to silver life stages

The populations of American (Anguilla rostrata) and European eels (Anguilla anguilla) have been declining rapidly in the last decades. Organic contaminants are suspected to be one of the possible causes for the decline; however, so far there have been few investigations of the uptake of specific compounds by different life cycle stages (e.g. freshwater or marine stage) and how the contamination patterns develop throughout the eel’s life cycle. In the present study we measured concentrations of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), alternate brominated flame retardants (alternate BFRs) and Dechloranes (Decs) in different life stages of European and American eels to compare the contamination patterns and their development throughout the eel’s life cycle. In general, concentrations of flame retardants (FRs) were similar to or higher in American than in European eels, and a greater number of FRs were detected.