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Products of biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fishes of the Athabasca/Slave river system, Canada

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Abstract

Concentrations of products of biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PBPAH) were measured in bile of five fishes of nutritional, cultural and ecological relevance from the Athabasca/Slave river system. Samples were collected in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, Canada, during three seasons. As a measure of concentrations of PBPAHs to which fishes are exposed and to gain information on the nature and extent of potential exposures of people or piscivorous wildlife, concentrations of biotransformation products of two- and three-ringed, four-ringed and five-ringed PAHs were measured using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Spatial and seasonal differences were observed with greater concentrations of PBPAHs in samples of bile of fish collected from Fort McKay as well as greater concentrations of PBPAHs in bile of fish collected during summer compared to those collected in other seasons. Overall, PBPAHs were greater in fishes of lower trophic levels and fishes more closely associated with sediments. In particular, goldeye (Hiodon alosoides), consistently contained greater concentrations of all the PBPAHs studied.

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this study were funded by the Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI); Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) and the Government of the Northwest Territories. PDJ is a Northern Environmental Toxicology Initiative Faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan. EO was supported by a New Faculty Scholarship to PDJ from the University of Saskatchewan. The research was supported, in part, by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Project # 326415-07) and a Grant from the Western Economic Diversification Canada (Project # 6578, 6807 and 000012711). The authors wish to acknowledge the support of an instrumentation grant from the Canada Foundation for Infrastructure. Prof. Giesy was supported by the Canada Research Chair program, a Visiting Distinguished Professorship in the Department of Biology and Chemistry and State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, the 2012 “High Level Foreign Experts” (#GDW20123200120) program, funded by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the P. R. China, to Nanjing University and the Einstein Professor Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. We would like to thank the research team of Drs. Giesy and Jones, especially Tim Tse and Eric Higley for their assistance. First Nations and Métis communities of Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay and Fort McMurray and numerous Provincial and Federal agencies are acknowledged for their assistance during the sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Ehimai Ohiozebau & Paul D. Jones

  2. Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Brett Tendler, Allison Hill, Garry Codling, John P. Giesy & Paul D. Jones

  3. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, Canada

    Erin Kelly

  4. Department of Biomedical Veterinary Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    John P. Giesy

  5. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

    John P. Giesy

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  1. Ehimai Ohiozebau
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  2. Brett Tendler
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  3. Allison Hill
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  4. Garry Codling
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  5. Erin Kelly
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Correspondence to Ehimai Ohiozebau.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Mean (±SD) values for parameters, including: length (cm) mass (g) and liver-somatic index (LSI) of fishes collected at Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay and Fort McMurray in 2011–2012 in (a) summer, (b) fall, (c) spring
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Ohiozebau, E., Tendler, B., Hill, A. et al. Products of biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fishes of the Athabasca/Slave river system, Canada. Environ Geochem Health 38, 577–591 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9744-6

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