title: HPLC determination of plasma thiocyanate concentrations in fish blood: application to laboratory pharmacokinetic and field-monitoring studies.
abstract: The pharmacokinetics of thiocyanate (SCN-) in the blood plasma of 35-g rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were followed during a 20-day exposure to 39.8 mg SCN- liter-1 and the subsequent 16-day depuration period. SCN- concentrations were determined by reverse-phase HPLC. Kinetic constants were estimated using a one-compartment first-order kinetic model fitted to the data by the computer programs BIOFAC and SYSTAT. The respective BIOFAC and SYSTAT estimates for the uptake rate constant (k1, 0.55 and 0.49 day-1), the depuration rate constant (k2, 0.34 and 0.29 day-1), and the bioconcentration factor (BCF, 1.61 and 1.66) were similar for both methods of calculation. Field studies were conducted to determine the impact of SCN- on white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations in waters receiving SCN(-)-bearing effluents. The assessment was based on SCN- concentrations in water and fish plasma, and the thyroid histology of the fish. Although SCN- was detected in the water at one site, no SCN- was detected in fish plasma and none of the thyroid pathology characteristic of chronic SCN- exposure was present. The results suggest that SCN- was not a hazard to the white sucker populations studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lanno
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D005399:Fishes; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000097:blood*; D010599:Pharmacokinetics; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity*; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000187:drug effects*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D013861:Thiocyanates; D014873:Water Pollutants; C031760:thiocyanate