Natural compounds from the metabolism of marine organisms have been detected at high concentrations in environmental samples which are not the producers of these compounds. These natural substances are known as halogenated natural products (HNPs). HNPs are possibly toxic halogenated compounds analogous to POPs that may bioaccumulate and biomagnify along the food web and pose a further risk to human and environmental health. The present study analyzed the occurrence of HNPs in the edible muscle of the three most consumed commercial fish species in the state of Rio de Janeiro: sardine (Sardinella brasiliensis), whitemouth croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) and mullet (Mugil liza) from the highly polluted Guanabara Bay (GB) and the less polluted Ilha Grande Bay (IGB). The analytical steps included Soxhlet extraction, clean-up step and injection in a gas chromatography system coupled to a mass spectrometer operated in the electron-capture negative ion mode (GC/ECNI-MS). The compounds 2,4,6-TBP, 2,4,6-TBA, MHC-1, Q1, 6-MeO-BDE 47 and 2′-MeO-BDE 68 were found in the analyzed fish from both studied areas. Q1, 6-MeO-BDE 47 and 2′-MeO-BDE 68 showed the highest concentrations in samples. Q1 concentrations in the sardines from IGB were higher than the sardines from GB (p < 0.05) and higher than the other IGB species (p < 0.05). The differences found among the species may be related to their characteristic habitat and diet. It is noteworthy that most of these compounds do not have any toxicological reference value. Moreover, the HNPs are being detected in species of low trophic level and since this study has worked only with commercial species, these fish may be considered as a source for human exposure to these natural compounds.

在不是这些化合物生产者的环境样品中，已经从高浓度的海洋生物中发现了天然化合物。这些天然物质被称为卤化天然产物（HNP）。HNPs可能是类似于POPs的有毒卤代化合物，可能在食物网中发生生物累积和生物放大作用，并对人类和环境健康构成进一步的风险。本研究分析了里约热内卢州三种最消耗商品鱼的食用肌肉中HNP的发生情况：沙丁鱼（Sardinella brasiliensis），白嘴鱼（Micropogonias furnieri）和鱼（Mugil liza））来自污染严重的瓜纳巴拉湾（GB）和污染较小的伊利亚格兰德湾（IGB）。分析步骤包括索氏提取，净化步骤和在气相色谱系统中的进样，该气相色谱系统与以电子捕获负离子模式（GC / ECNI-MS）操作的质谱仪相连。在两个研究区域的被分析鱼类中均发现了化合物2,4,6-TBP，2,4,6-TBA，MHC-1，Q1、6-MeO-BDE 47和2'-MeO-BDE 68。Q1、6-MeO-BDE 47和2'-MeO-BDE 68在样品中显示最高浓度。IGB中的沙丁鱼中的Q1浓度高于GB中的沙丁鱼（p  <0.05），也高于其他IGB种类（p <0.05）。在物种之间发现的差异可能与它们的特征生境和饮食有关。值得注意的是，大多数这些化合物没有任何毒理学参考价值。此外，在营养水平较低的物种中也检测到了HNP，并且由于这项研究仅针对商业物种，因此这些鱼类可能被视为人类接触这些天然化合物的来源。