Page 913 - The Toxicology of Fishes

The Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Fish from Puget Sound, Washington 893

600 *

500
400
FACs (?) 300 *

200
100

0
HATCH DW CB NE
n = 7 n = 3 n = 2 n = 3
A
300 * * 15 *
AHH activity (pmol/min * protein) 200 DNA adducts (?) 10

100
5

0 0
HATCH DW CB NE HATCH DW CB NE
n = 8 n = 3 n = 2 n = 3 n = 7 n = 3 n = 2 n = 3
B C

FIGURE 22.10 (A) Biliary fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs) (ng BaP equiv per mg protein); (B) hepatic aryl
hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity (pmol/min*mg protein); and (C) hepatic DNA adducts (nmol/mol bases) in juvenile
salmon from estuaries and hatcheries sampled from Puget Sound, Washington. The bars represent the mean ± standard
error. The sample size (n) equals the number of tissue composites that were analyzed. CB, Commencement Bay; DW,
Duwamish Waterway; NE, Nisqually River Estuary. (Figure is reprinted from Johnson, L.L. et al., Can. Tech. Rep. Fish.
Aquat. Sci., 1948, 304–329, 1994. With permission.)

(1990) found significantly higher AH concentrations in stomach contents as well as higher levels of
FACs in bile in juvenile Chinook salmon from the Duwamish Waterway compared to juvenile Chinook
from the relatively uncontaminated Nisqually Estuary or from either of the hatcheries from which fish
in these two river systems are released. Since this initial study, PAH exposure has been examined in
juvenile Chinook, Coho, and chum salmon from hatcheries and their respective estuaries of five river
systems of Puget Sound: the Green-Duwamish, the Puyallup-Hylebos/Commencement Bay, the
Nisqually, the Snohomish, and the Skokomish (Olson et al., 2007; Stehr et al., 2000; Stein et al., 1995).
As in the earlier study, salmon collected from the Duwamish and Commencement Bay/Hylebos Waterway
estuaries adjacent to Seattle and Tacoma showed elevated levels of FACs in bile in comparison to fish
from hatcheries or from the less-urbanized Nisqually and Skokomish systems. Additionally, elevated
AHH activity and elevated levels of DNA adducts in liver were detected in salmon migrating through
the urban estuaries (Figure 22.10). In comparison to English sole collected from the same waterways,
FAC concentrations in bile of salmon were similar. In contrast, levels of DNA adducts in liver of salmon,
whose residence time in the estuary is relatively short, were much lower than levels in English sole
(Collier et al., 1998b; Stehr et al., 2000). This is consistent with data from dose–response experiments
showing that biliary FAC concentrations are a good indicator of relative short-term exposure to PAHs,
while DNA adducts are a better measure of chronic, long-term exposure.