In addition to being used in the food and animal feed industry, fish oils have also been used traditionallyas dietary supplements. Due to the presence of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, fish oils have therapeuticbenefits in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular, immunological, and arthritic diseases, aswell as childhood deficiency diseases such as rickets, because of a high content of vitamin D. However,fish oils are also susceptible to contamination with lipophilic organic chemicals that are now ubiquitouscontaminants of marine ecosystems. Many vegetable oils are sources of the shorter chain precursorforms of n-3 fatty acids, and in recent years the specialist dietary supplement market has expandedto include these oils in a variety of different formulations. This paper reports analytical results ofselected contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, for a range of commercially available n-3 fatty acid rich fish and vegetableoil dietary supplements. Using principal component analysis, the values are compared with historicsamples to elucidate time trends in contamination profiles. Levels of contaminants are discussed inrelation to the nutritional benefits to the consumer of long- and short-chain forms of n-3 fatty acids. |
