title: Concentration of organic contaminants in fish and their biological effects in a wastewater-dominated urban stream.
abstract: Data are presented on the concentrations of alkylphenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs) and persistent organic compounds in largemouth bass collected from a waste-water dominated stream in downtown Chicago. The fish residue concentrations of APEs are compared to concentrations of the APEs in the water that were collected at weekly intervals over two months bracketing the fall (2006) and a spring (2007) fish collection. The concentrations of APEs were significantly higher in the spring-collected fish (5.42μg/g) versus the fall (0.99μg/g) tand these differences were shared by differences in the water concentrations (spring - 11.47 versus fall - 3.44μg/L). The differences in water concentration were negatively correlated with water temperatures observed over the two sampling times. Fish residue concentrations of persistent organic compounds (PCBs, PBDEs, toxaphene, and many legacy pesticides including the DDT family) did not vary from fall to spring. Some of these residue concentrations were comparable to the highest NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate) homologue concentrations, e.g. NP1EO was 3.5μg/g in the bass for the spring, the PBDE-congener 47 and p,p'-DDE averaged 1.0μg/g and 0.5μg/g, respectively, over both seasons. All the other persistent single-analyte concentrations were lower. Biological endpoints for endocrine effects measured in the same fish showed that there was an apparent positive correlation for physiological effects based on increased vitellogenin levels in males versus concentration of NPEs; however there were no observable histological differences in fall versus spring fish samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: Clifford P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pagano
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zintek
authors.forename: Larry B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Elizabeth W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nettesheim
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minarik
authors.forename: Heiko L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Schoenfuss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002641:Chicago; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005026:Ethylene Glycols / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000378:metabolism; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D005026:Ethylene Glycols; D014819:Vitellogenins; D014873:Water Pollutants; C021754:terics