Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-30-2019
Keywords
Gulf of Mexico, Tilefish, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Deepwater Horizon, Fish indices, Oil spills
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4583
Abstract
A time series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data was collected for Gulf of Mexico demersal fishes in the years following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2012–2017). Tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps ) were sampled via demersal longline at repeat stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2012 to 2015 and 2017. Bile samples (n = 256) were analyzed via high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for PAH metabolites as a biomarker of exposure to PAHs. Liver tissues (n = 230) were analyzed for accumulation of PAHs and alkylated homologs via quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extractions and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry quantification. Over the 6‐yr time series, exposure to petrogenic PAHs increased by an average of 178%, correlating with an average 22% decline in Fulton's condition factor. The decline in Fulton's condition factor was positively correlated with a 53% decline in percentage of liver lipid. There was no accumulation of PAHs in liver tissue over time. Together, these results suggest that increasing and chronic PAH exposure and metabolism may be taxing the energy budgets of tilefish, particularly adult females, with potentially negative impacts on fitness. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2659–2671. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 38, issue 12, p. 2659-2671
Scholar Commons Citation
Syder, Susan M.; Pulster, Erin; and Murawski, Steven, "Associations Between Chronic Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Health Indices in Gulf of Mexico Tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) Post Deepwater Horizon" (2019). C-IMAGE Publications. 23.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cimage_pubs/23
Comments
Data used in this article are available for download.
Biliary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) equivalents for 92 species of fish collected aboard multiple research and fishing vessels in the Gulf of Mexico from 2011-08-16 to 2018-08-22