Although for most people fish and seafood represent only a
small part of the total diet, the contribution of this food group
to the daily intake of PAHs in some individuals may be
comparatively important.6,7 In the marine environment, PAHs
are bioavailable to marine species via the food chain, as
waterborne compounds, and from contaminated sediments. As
lipophilic compounds they can easily cross lipid membranes
and have the potential to bioaccumulate in aquatic
organisms.8-11 Invertebrates such as cephalopods, may
accumulate and bioconcentrate PAHs,12 having the potential
to act as bioindicators and sentinel species for ecological risk
assessment and marine environment monitoring studies.2,13
Nonetheless, information on PAH levels in the major
cephalopods species such as squids and octopus is scarce.