ACCUMULATION, TRANSFORMATION, AND ELIMINATION OF BIS(TRI-N-BUTYLTIN) OXIDE IN RED-SEA BREAM, PAGRUS-MAJOR, UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Red sea bream (Pagrus major) were exposed to bis(tri-n-butyltin) oxide (TBTO), and accumulation, transformation, and excretion of TBTO in th e muscle, liver, gills, and digestive tract were observed. Only two or ganotin compounds, tri-n-butyltin chloride (TBTC) and di-n-butyltin ch loride (DBTC), were detected in the muscle, and TBTC accounted for mor e than 96% of the organotin compounds at 8 weeks after TBTO treatment. In addition to these compounds, hydroxylated, carboxylated, and oxyge nated compounds of TBTC or DBTC were also found in the liver, gills, a nd digestive tract. The metabolic pattern in the red sea bream liver w as significantly different from that in the liver of mammalian but sim ilar to that in the gills and digestive tract and in general agreement with that found in the natural marine environment, which was surveyed in an earlier work.