46I-2 |
Prediction of PCB concentration in fish using semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD) |
S. M. SHIM, Dept. of Food Science, Purdue Univ., 1264 Stone Hall, West Lafayette, IN 47906, C. R. Santerre, Dept. of Foods & Nutrition, Purdue Univ., 1264 Stone Hall, West Lafayette, IN 47906, L. E. Dorworth, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, Purdue Univ.-Calumet, Hammond, IN 76323-2094, B. K. Miller, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907-3586, J. R. Stahl, Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management, 100 N. Senate Ave., P.O. Box 6015, Indianapolis, IN 46206, and D. C. Deardorff, Strategic Diagnostics Inc., 111 Pencader Dr., Newark, DE 19702. Fish Consumption Advisories warn the public that high concentrations of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) have been found in fish from local waters and that consumption of these fish may pose health risks especially for the developing fetus. Determining the concentrations of contaminants in fish to develop the advisories is made even more difficult by having to collect fish species that are typical of fish caught by anglers. Therefore, triolein-filled semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) that are placed in water bodies may predict levels of PCBs measured in fish from the same locations. The objective was to demonstrate whether a determination of PCBs that are accumulated in a triolein-filled SPMD are predictive of total PCBs in fish from Indiana waters. Triolein-filled SPMDs were immersed at 3 locations along an Indiana river for 30 days. Fish from the 3 locations were concurrently analyzed and found to contain varying levels of PCBs. Triolein from the SPMD°¯s was analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and calibrated against Aroclor 1254 in triolein. Fish collected from the same locations were analyzed using a gas chromatography method. There was a significant difference in total PCB concentration between triolein samples collected at the three locations (p<0.05) that paralleled the levels found in fish; however, when total PCB in fish tissue was compared to PCB levels in the SPMDs, a significant correlation could not be found. This indicates that monitoring of the level of PCB in the waterbody alone may not be a good predictor of PCB concentration in the fish because it does not account for dietary intake by the fish. SPMDs may be good predictors of contaminants, like PCBs, that are present in the water. By themselves, SPMDs may not provide a complete view of contaminants found in fish and therefore, may have limited benefit for improving fish consumption advisories.
Session 46I, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation
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