Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2019
Keywords
Oil spill, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Metabolites, Fish, Urophycis
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4596
Abstract
Prior to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we lacked a comprehensive baseline of oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico's sediments, water column, and biota. Gaps in prespill knowledge limit our ability to determine the aftereffects of the Deepwater Horizon blowout or prepare to mitigate similar impacts during future oil spill disasters. We examined spatiotemporal differences in exposure to and metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 2 hake species (Urophycis spp.) to establish a current baseline for these ecologically important, abundant, and at-risk demersal fishes. Gulf hake (Urophycis cirrata) and southern hake (Urophycis floridana) were collected throughout the Gulf of Mexico during extensive longline surveys from 2012 to 2015. Analyses of biliary PAH metabolites and liver PAH concentrations provided evidence of exposures to di- and tricyclic compounds, with the highest concentrations measured in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Species-specific differences were not detected, but temporal trends observed in biliary PAHs suggest a decrease in acute exposures, whereas increasing liver PAHs suggest chronic exposures marked by greater assimilation than metabolism rates. To our knowledge, the present study provides the first multitissue contaminant analyses, as well as the most exhaustive biometric analyses, for both gulf and southern hakes. Though sources of exposure are complex because of multiple natural and anthropogenic PAH inputs, these results will facilitate the development of much needed health metrics for Gulf of Mexico benthos. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2740-2749. © 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. 2740–2749
Scholar Commons Citation
Struch, Rachel E.; Pulster, Erin; Schreier, Andrea D.; and Murawski, Steven A., "Hepatobiliary Analyses Suggest Chronic PAH Exposure in Hakes (Urophycis spp.) Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" (2019). C-IMAGE Publications. 66.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cimage_pubs/66
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
Hepatic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Gulf and Southern Hake collected aboard multiple R/V Weatherbird II cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from 2012-08-21 to 2015-09-24