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SYNCHRONOUS FLUOROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF METABOLITES OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN THE BILE OF BROWN BULLHEAD
Citation:
Lin, E., S. Cormier, AND R. N. Racine. SYNCHRONOUS FLUOROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF METABOLITES OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN THE BILE OF BROWN BULLHEAD. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry v.13(5):707-715, (1994).
Description:
A synchronous fluorescent spectroscopy (SFS) method was developed to measure pyrene-type metabolites in the bile of brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) and to estimate the exposure of fish to PAHs in four Lake Erie tributaries collected in the spring and fall of 1990 and 1991. For comparison, fish biliary benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) metabolites were also measured by HPLC/fluorescent detection (HPLC/F). Both methods showed that concentrations of biliary PAH metabolites of fish collected in polluted rivers were significantly higher than those collected from reference rivers. Concentrations of biliary metabolites of fish caught in the Black River were five to 20 times greater than those collected in Old Woman Creek by SFS and three to five times greater by HPLC/F. Fish from the Cuyahoga River had four to 24 times more biliary PAH metabolites than fish from Old Woman Creek, measured by SFS, and five to 10 times more, measured by HPLC/F. Brown bullhead from the Toussaint River had fewer PAH metabolites than fish from Old Woman Creek. Correlation analyses of the two sets of data obtained by SFS and HPLC/F showed significance by both Pearson's sample correlation and Spearman's rank correlation. This study indicates that pyrene-type metabolites determined by SFS can be used to estimate B[a]P-type metabolites in fish bile. SFS appears to be highly sensitive method for detecting PAH metabolites and, because of its simplicity, a cost-efficient method for screening large numbers of samples for exposure to PAHs in fish.