Dynamics of uptake and elimination of 17α-ethinylestradiol in male goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Abstract

We used male goldfish (Carassius auratus) as a model species to determine the uptake, elimination, and bioaccumulation of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Goldfish were exposed to EE2 via two different routes: water (135ng/L±12.8 standard deviation) for 72h, and food (231ng/g±42 SD) for 120h. We observed a rapid uptake of EE2 in goldfish, reaching 8.4ng/g±1.2 dry weight (dw) after the first hour of exposure with an uptake rate coefficient (k1) of 45h−1. The elimination rate coefficient (k2) was determined by a depuration experiment to be 0.0786h−1. In the feeding experiment, EE2 concentrations increased rapidly, reaching an average of 1.4ng/g after 3h following the first dietary exposure with an estimated absorption efficiency (α) of 0.106. An average of 2.66ng/g±0.87 (n=8) was determined in the 24–72h samples, whereas EE2 concentrations in fish fell below our method detection limits (0.67ng/g) for all samples after 72h, suggesting efficient elimination over time. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) for EE2 reached a maximum of 377, similar to BCFs measured for other pharmaceuticals like fluoxetine and sertraline. Our kinetic data were also used to model various scenarios of EE2 uptake in the aquatic environment. To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe aqueous and dietary EE2 uptake and elimination in fish, as well as providing important data to model EE2 kinetics in fish.