Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites in the bile of a territorial benthic fish, oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau) from the Elizabeth River, Virginia

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology 2002, Vol.42 (1), p.43-52
• Main Authors: DESHPANDE, A. D, HUGGETT, R. J, HALBROOK, R. A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological; Agnatha. Pisces; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Anthropogenic factors; Applied ecology; Aquatic mammals; Aromatic hydrocarbons; Arvicolinae; Batrachoidiformes; Bile; Bile - chemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Biotransformation; Brackish; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Environmental Monitoring; Enzyme Induction; Fish; Fluvial sediments; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrointestinal tract; Hydrocarbons; Marine; Metabolites; Ondatra zibethicus; Opsanus tau; Pollution detection; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - metabolism; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - pharmacokinetics; Rivers; Techniques; USA, Virginia, Elizabeth R; USA, Virginia, York R; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s002440010290

Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic analyses of bile of a territorial benthic fish, oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), indicated that fish from reference stations in the York and Elizabeth Rivers, Virginia, contained lower concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites than fish from polluted stations. PAH metabolite levels in the bile of fish from mildly polluted stations were 7 to 10 times greater than those from reference stations. PAH metabolite levels in fish from a moderately polluted station and a highly polluted station were, respectively, 20 and 50 times greater than those from reference stations. Differential patterns of five major PAH metabolites in fish from the same station suggested individual variability in metabolic pathways possibly further convoluted by the differential inductions or suppressions of hepatic mixed-function oxygenase isozyme systems under various natural or anthropogenic habitat parameters. PAH metabolite levels in the bile of oyster toadfish correlated well with the gradient of PAH contamination in the Elizabeth River sediments. High levels of biliary PAH metabolites were not detected in muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) collected along the polluted sections of the Elizabeth River, probably due to their primarily herbivorous nature. Assuming that the hepatobiliary system and the gastrointestinal tract are the major routes of biotransformation and excretion of PAHs in the muskrats, the contaminated diet appears to be a more important routes of exposure of muskrats (and possibly oyster toadfish) to PAHs than the transdermal transfer. Occurrence permitting, we propose oyster toadfish as a useful biological sentinel for early detection of estuarine PAH pollution.