United States Department of Transportation
i
Investigation of Potential Biomarkers of Exposure to Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent in North Carolina Rivers
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1995-07-01
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[PDF-4.03 MB]
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Abstract:Bleached kraft pulp mills discharge copious amounts of effluent into natural water in the United States. Some components of these effluents are of environmental concern because of their resistance to biodegradation, persistence in the environment and tendencies for bioaccumulation. This study was initiated to investigate aspects of this problem Its objectives were: (1) to quantitate the relative concentrations of chlorophenolic bile metabolites (CBM’s) in fish exposed to bleached kraft pulp mill effluent (BKME) in natural waters and artificial streams, (2) to determine if exposure to BKME results in uroporphyria in feral fish and (3) to investigate correlations between CBM’s, levels of hepatic ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase and porphyrin concentrations. Feral fish were collected at site above and below BKME outfalls at sites on both the Roanoke and Pigeon Rivers in North Carolina. Also, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) provided fish from their experimental streams in New Bern, NC, which receive controlled amounts of efBuent fiom a miU on-site. Work to determine ifuroporphyria could be induced in fish exposed to hexachlorobenzene in the laboratory was also done. Total concentrations of CBM’s as low as 1.8 ng of 2,4,6 trichlorophenol (TCIP) equivalents per 1-11 of bile were detected in feral fish from the Roanoke River. On the Pigeon River, a statistically siflcant correlation between CBM concentration and proximity to an upstream BKME source was observed, as were &&cant differences in CBM concentrations between samplings in July and November 1992. The detection of individual chlorinated phenolics by use of reference compounds and GCMS analysis was also possible on samples from the Pigeon River. Samples from the Roanoke River and the NCASI artificial streams exhibited slight, statistically non- significant trends toward increased CBM concentrations with increased exposure to BKME. EROD activities in redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus) taken in July @om the Pigeon River were not significantly different between sites. EROD activities between sites were sig”tly different in fish taken in November. A site closer to the BKME outfall than the closest site in the July sampling was sampled in November. EROD activities in white catfish (Ameriurus cattus) and channel catfish (Tctalurus punctatus) taken from sites on the Roanoke River were not sigdicantly Merent, nor were EROD activities fi-om bluegdl (Lepomis macrochirus) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from the NCASI artificial streams. No signtficant correlations among prophyrin concentrations, EROD activities and CBM concentrations within river systems were found, although similar trends between EROD activities and CBM Concentrations on the Pigeon River and the NCASI artificial streams were observed.
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