School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2023 Jan;42(1):7-18. doi: 10.1002/etc.5489. Epub 2022 Nov 18.
In the present study, we investigated the possibility of identifying the source oils of exposed fish using ratios of bicyclic sesquiterpane (bicyclane) chemical biomarkers. In the event of an oil spill, identification of source oil(s) for assessment, or for litigation purposes, typically uses diagnostic ratios of chemical biomarkers to produce characteristic oil "fingerprints." Although this has been applied in identifying oil residues in sediments, water, and sessile filtering organisms, so far as we are aware this has never been successfully demonstrated for oil-exposed fish. In a 35-day laboratory trial, juvenile Lates calcarifer (barramundi or Asian seabass) were exposed, via the diet (1% w/w), to either a heavy fuel oil or to Montara, an Australian medium crude oil. Two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were then used to measure selected ratios of the bicyclanes to examine whether the ratios were statistically reproducibly conserved in the fish tissues. Six diagnostic bicyclane ratios showed high correlation (r > 0.98) with those of each of the two source oils. A linear discriminatory analysis model showed that nine different petroleum products could be reproducibly discriminated using these bicyclane ratios. The model was then used to correctly identify the bicyclane profiles of each of the two exposure oils in the adipose tissue extracts of each of the 18 fish fed oil-enriched diets. From our initial study, bicyclane biomarkers appear to show good potential for providing reliable forensic fingerprints of the sources of oil contamination of exposed fish. Further research is needed to investigate the minimum exposure times required for bicyclane bioaccumulation to achieve detectable concentrations in fish adipose tissues and to determine bicyclane depuration rates once exposure to oil has ceased. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:7-18. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
在本研究中，我们调查了使用双环倍半萜烷（双环烷）化学生物标志物的比率来识别暴露鱼类的源油的可能性。在发生溢油事件时，为了评估或诉讼目的，通常使用化学生物标志物的诊断比率来产生特征性的油“指纹”。尽管这已应用于识别沉积物、水和固着过滤生物中的油残留物，但据我们所知，这从未成功地证明过用于暴露于油的鱼类。在 35 天的实验室试验中，通过饮食（1%w/w）使幼年尖吻鲈（barramundi 或亚洲海鲈）暴露于重燃料油或澳大利亚中质原油蒙特拉。然后使用二维气相色谱高分辨质谱和气相色谱-质谱来测量所选双环烷的比率，以检查这些比率是否在鱼类组织中具有统计学上可重现的保守性。六种诊断性双环烷比率与两种源油中的每一种都表现出高度相关性（r>0.98）。线性判别分析模型表明，使用这些双环烷比率可以重现性地区分九种不同的石油产品。该模型随后用于正确识别在 18 条喂食含油饮食的鱼的脂肪组织提取物中每种暴露油的双环烷图谱。从我们的初步研究来看，双环烷生物标志物似乎具有很好的潜力，可以为暴露鱼类的油污染来源提供可靠的法医指纹。需要进一步研究以调查在鱼类脂肪组织中达到可检测浓度所需的双环烷生物积累的最小暴露时间，并确定一旦停止接触油，双环烷的清除率。环境毒理学与化学 2023；42:7-18。©2022 作者。环境毒理学与化学由 Wiley 期刊出版公司代表 SETAC 出版。
