ASSESSING AROMATIC HYDROCARBON EXPOSURE IN ANTARCTIC FISH CAPTURED NEAR PALMER AND MCMURDO STATIONS, ANTARCTICA

Since little is known about the effects of contaminants on Antarctic o rganisms, the effects of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on An tarctic fish were evaluated. Fish captured near Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula exhibited induced ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (ER OD) activities and elevated concentrations of biliary PAH metabolites compared to fish from control sites. Naphthalene and phenanthrene PAH metabolite levels were significantly higher in the bile of fish captur ed near McMurdo Station than in fish from remote sites in McMurdo Soun d. Laboratory experiments were conducted in which Notothenia gibberifr ons were treated with benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and diesel fuel Arctic (DFA ). Although DFA is composed primarily of 2- and 3-ring PAH which are n ot known to be potent CYPIA inducers, the maximal hepatic EROD activit y of DFA-treated fish was approximately 80% of that observed in BaP-tr eated fish. Additionally, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin toxic eq uivalents (TEQs) were determined for hepatic extracts of laboratory-do sed and field-captured fish using rat hepatoma H4IIE cell bioassays. T he TEQ values of H4IIE cells dosed with hepatic extracts of DFA-treate d fish correlated more closely with hepatic concentrations of 3-ring a nd >3-ring PAH than with 2-ring and Sigma PAH concentrations. However, bioassay-derived TEQs were higher than expected based on the measured levels of greater than or equal to 3-ring PAH in the hepatic extracts of DFA-treated fish. The TEQs for hepatic tissue extracts of BaP-trea ted fish paralleled tissue concentrations of PAH. The TEQs for field c aptured fish were significantly lower than those derived from dosed fi sh extracts.