Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA 98112, United States.
Myers Ecotoxicology Services, LLC, 19604 12th Ave. NW, Shoreline, WA 98177, United States.
Sci Total Environ. 2015 Apr 15;512-513:227-239. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.017. Epub 2015 Jan 24.
From 2000-2004 a monitoring study was conducted to evaluate the impacts of aluminum smelter-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the health of fish in the marine waters of Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. These waters are part of the historical fishing grounds of the Haisla First Nation, and since the 1950s the Alcan Primary Metal Company has operated an aluminum smelter at the head of the Kitimat Arm embayment. As a result, adjacent marine and estuarine sediments have been severely contaminated with a mixture of smelter-associated PAHs in the range of 10,000-100,000 ng/g dry wt. These concentrations are above those shown to cause adverse effects in fish exposed to PAHs in urban estuaries, but it was uncertain whether comparable effects would be seen at the Kitimat site due to limited bioavailability of smelter-derived PAHs. Over the 5-year study we conducted biennial collections of adult English sole (Parophrys vetulus) and sediment samples at the corresponding capture sites. Various tissue samples (e.g. liver, kidney, gonad, stomach contents) and bile were taken from each animal to determine levels of exposure and biological effects, and compare the uptake and toxicity of smelter-derived PAHs with urban mixtures of PAHs. Results showed significant intersite differences in concentrations of PAHs. Sole collected at sites nearest the smelter showed increased PAH exposure, as well as significantly higher prevalences of PAH-associated liver disease, compared to sites within Kitimat Arm that were more distant from the smelter. However, measures of PAH exposure (e.g., bile metabolites) were surprisingly high in sole from the reference sites outside of Kitimat Arm, though sediment and dietary PAHs at these sites were low, and fish from the areas showed no biological injury. PAH uptake, exposure, and biological effects in Kitimat English sole were relatively lower when compared to English sole collected from urban sites contaminated with PAH mixtures from other sources. These findings indicate that while smelter-associated PAHs in Kitimat Arm appear to be causing some injury to marine resources, they likely have reduced bioavailability, and thus reduced biological toxicity, compared to other environmental PAH mixtures.
从 2000 年至 2004 年，进行了一项监测研究，以评估不列颠哥伦比亚省基蒂马特（Kitimat）海域铝冶炼厂衍生多环芳烃（PAHs）对鱼类健康的影响。这些水域是海斯拉第一民族（Haisla First Nation）历史渔业区的一部分，自 20 世纪 50 年代以来，加拿大铝业公司（Alcan Primary Metal Company）就在基蒂马特湾（Kitimat Arm）的入海口运营一家铝冶炼厂。因此，相邻的海洋和河口沉积物受到了冶炼厂相关 PAHs 的严重污染，其浓度在 10,000-100,000ng/g 干重之间。这些浓度高于在城市河口暴露于 PAHs 的鱼类中显示出不良影响的浓度，但由于冶炼厂衍生的 PAHs 的生物利用度有限，尚不确定在基蒂马特（Kitimat）站点是否会出现类似的影响。在这项为期 5 年的研究中，我们每两年在相应的捕捞点采集成年英吉利比目鱼（Parophrys vetulus）和沉积物样本。从每只动物中采集各种组织样本（例如肝脏、肾脏、性腺、胃内容物）和胆汁，以确定暴露水平和生物学效应，并比较冶炼厂衍生的 PAHs 与城市 PAHs 混合物的吸收和毒性。结果表明，PAHs 浓度存在显著的站点间差异。与远离冶炼厂的基蒂马特臂（Kitimat Arm）内的站点相比，在最靠近冶炼厂的站点采集的比目鱼的 PAH 暴露量增加，且与 PAH 相关的肝病的流行率也显著升高。然而，来自基蒂马特臂（Kitimat Arm）以外的参考站点的比目鱼的 PAH 暴露（例如胆汁代谢物）的测量值出人意料地高，尽管这些站点的沉积物和饮食 PAHs 水平较低，且这些区域的鱼类没有表现出生物损伤。与从其他来源的受 PAH 混合物污染的城市站点采集的英吉利比目鱼相比，基蒂马特（Kitimat）的英吉利比目鱼的 PAH 吸收、暴露和生物学效应相对较低。这些发现表明，虽然基蒂马特臂（Kitimat Arm）的冶炼厂相关 PAHs 似乎对海洋资源造成了一些损害，但与其他环境 PAH 混合物相比，它们的生物利用度降低，因此生物毒性降低。
