SYNCHRONOUS FLUOROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF METABOLITES OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN THE BILE OF BROWN BULLHEAD

A synchronous fluorescent spectroscopy (SFS) method was developed to m easure 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. Fo r comparison, fish biliary benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) metabolites were als o measured by HPLC/fluorescent detection (HPLC/F). Both methods showed that concentrations of biliary PAH metabolites of fish collected in p olluted rivers were significantly higher than those collected from ref erence 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. Fis h from the Cuyahoga River had four to 24 times more biliary PAH metabo lites than fish from Old Woman Creek, measured by SFS, and five to 10 times more, measured by HPLC/F. Brown bullhead from the Toussaint Rive r had fewer PAH metabolites than fish from Old Woman Creek. Correlatio n analyses of the two sets of data obtained by SFS and HPLC/F showed s ignificance by both Pearson's sample correlation and Spearman's rank c orrelation. This study indicates that pyrene-type metabolites determin ed by SFS can be used to estimate B[a]P-type metabolites in fish bile. SFS appears to be a highly sensitive method for detecting PAH metabol ites and, because of its simplicity, a cost-efficient method for scree ning large numbers of samples for exposure to PAHs in fish.