Bile metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in three species of fish from the Severn Estuary.

Six metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were identified and quantified from the bile of 31 common eels (Anguilla anguilla), 29 European flounders (Pleuronectes flesus), and 15 conger eels (Conger conger) collected from the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel during 1997. The bile metabolites were deconjugated by enzymatic hydrolysis and separated by reverse-phase HPLC with fluorescence detection. The major metabolite present in all fish was 1-hydroxy pyrene (75-94% of all metabolites detected) with lower proportions of 1-hydroxy chrysene (2-15%) and 1-hydroxy phenanthrene (2-8%), and small amounts of three benzo[a]pyrene derivatives (<3%). Metabolite concentrations (normalized to biliverdin content) were significantly higher in common eels than in the other two species and tended to be higher in all species at the beginning of the year than at the end. The data confirm the importance of 1-hydroxy pyrene as the key PAH metabolite in fish bile and suggest that the common eel is an ideal species for monitoring PAHs in estuarine environments.