Assessment of contamination of fish by water-soluble fractions of petroleum: A role for bile metabolites

Abstract

Abstract Several conjugated metabolites were found to accumulate in the gall bladder bile of trout (Salmo gairdneri) exposed to No. 2 fuel oil, but no free metabolites could be detected. GC-MS analysis of the major resolved components resulted in the identification of at least eight metabolites, present as alcohols. Single-ion monitoring MS indicated the predominance of a fragment at m/e 152, and 1H-NMR spectroscopy provided information on the average structure of the mixture of hydrolyzed metabolites. The study demonstrated that focusing on specific two- and three-ring conjugated metabolites in the gall bladder bile of fish can provide a simple and rapid investigative tool for the monitoring and assessment of petroleum and fuel oil pollution.