AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN BIOTA FROM THE DETROIT RIVER AND WESTERN LAKE ERIE

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PCBs in zebra mussels wer e elevated to concentrations greater than 5,000 ng/g lipid and 15,000 ng/g lip, respectively, at the Ambassador Bridge in the Detroit River and concentrations gradually declined at downstream locations, which i ncluded three stations in the western basin of Lake Erie (Middle Siste r Island, East Sister Island, Pelee Island). PCB concentrations in zeb ra mussels collected at the stations in western Lake Erie were elevate d relative to the concentrations in mussels at the upstream end of the Detroit River (Stoney Point). There is no evidence that PAH contamina tion in the Detroit River elevated PAH concentrations in zebra mussels in western Lake Erie relative to mussels at Stoney Point. Fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs) representing metabolites of PAHs were analy zed in the bile of gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and freshwater d rum (Aplodinotus grunniens) collected from several sites in the Detroi t River and western Lake Erie. Mean FAC concentrations were >1,000 ng BaP equivalents per ML of bile in fish from the Trenton Channel and Bo blo Island in the Detroit River, but FAC data provided no evidence tha t fish captured at two sites in western Lake Erie (East Sister Island, Pelee Island) were exposed to elevated concentrations of PAHs through ingestion of contaminated biota or exposure to contaminated sediments .