Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish
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 diagno...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP170101000 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95994 |
| _version_ | 1848766068268466176 |
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| author | Spilsbury, F.D. Scarlett, Alan Rowland, S.J. Nelson, R.K. Spaak, G. Grice, Kliti Gagnon, Monique |
| author_facet | Spilsbury, F.D. Scarlett, Alan Rowland, S.J. Nelson, R.K. Spaak, G. Grice, Kliti Gagnon, Monique |
| author_sort | Spilsbury, F.D. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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 (r2 > 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:45:16Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-95994 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:45:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-959942024-10-03T02:31:31Z Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish Spilsbury, F.D. Scarlett, Alan Rowland, S.J. Nelson, R.K. Spaak, G. Grice, Kliti Gagnon, Monique Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Toxicology Environmental Sciences & Ecology Crude oil ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Montara LINEAR DISCRIMINANT-ANALYSIS UNRESOLVED COMPLEX-MIXTURES DIETARY EXPOSURE AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS SOURCE IDENTIFICATION INDICATORS BIODEGRADATION CONTAMINANTS METABOLITES BIOMARKERS Crude oil Montara ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Animals Petroleum Environmental Pollutants Australia Petroleum Pollution Perciformes Oils Biomarkers Water Pollutants, Chemical Animals Perciformes Oils Environmental Pollutants Water Pollutants, Chemical Petroleum Australia Petroleum Pollution Biomarkers 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 (r2 > 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. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95994 10.1002/etc.5489 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP170101000 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Toxicology Environmental Sciences & Ecology Crude oil ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Montara LINEAR DISCRIMINANT-ANALYSIS UNRESOLVED COMPLEX-MIXTURES DIETARY EXPOSURE AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS SOURCE IDENTIFICATION INDICATORS BIODEGRADATION CONTAMINANTS METABOLITES BIOMARKERS Crude oil Montara ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Animals Petroleum Environmental Pollutants Australia Petroleum Pollution Perciformes Oils Biomarkers Water Pollutants, Chemical Animals Perciformes Oils Environmental Pollutants Water Pollutants, Chemical Petroleum Australia Petroleum Pollution Biomarkers Spilsbury, F.D. Scarlett, Alan Rowland, S.J. Nelson, R.K. Spaak, G. Grice, Kliti Gagnon, Monique Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title | Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title_full | Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title_fullStr | Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title_short | Fish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed Fish |
| title_sort | fish fingerprinting: identifying crude oil pollutants using bicyclic sesquiterpanes (bicyclanes) in the tissues of exposed fish |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Toxicology Environmental Sciences & Ecology Crude oil ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Montara LINEAR DISCRIMINANT-ANALYSIS UNRESOLVED COMPLEX-MIXTURES DIETARY EXPOSURE AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS SOURCE IDENTIFICATION INDICATORS BIODEGRADATION CONTAMINANTS METABOLITES BIOMARKERS Crude oil Montara ecotoxicology fingerprinting heavy fuel oil linear discriminatory analysis Animals Petroleum Environmental Pollutants Australia Petroleum Pollution Perciformes Oils Biomarkers Water Pollutants, Chemical Animals Perciformes Oils Environmental Pollutants Water Pollutants, Chemical Petroleum Australia Petroleum Pollution Biomarkers |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP170101000 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95994 |