Exposure to hydrocarbons 10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: evidence from cytochrome P4501A expression and biliary FACs in nearshore demersal fishes

Abstract

Three biomarkers of hydrocarbon exposure, CYP1A in liver vascular endothelium, liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), and biliary fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs), were examined in the nearshore fishes, masked greenling ( Hexagrammos octogrammus) and crescent gunnel ( Pholis laeta), collected in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 7–10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). All biomarkers were elevated in fish collected from sites originally oiled, in comparison to fish from unoiled sites. In 1998, endothelial CYP1A in masked greenling from sites that were heavily oiled in 1989 was significantly higher than in fish collected outside the spill trajectory. In 1999, fishes collected from sites adjacent to intertidal mussel beds containing lingering Exxon Valdez oil had elevated endothelial CYP1A and EROD, and high concentrations of biliary FACs. Fishes from sites near unoiled mussel beds, but within the original spill trajectory, also showed evidence of hydrocarbon exposure, although there were no correlations between sediment petroleum hydrocarbon and any of the biomarkers. Our data show that 10 years after the spill, nearshore fishes within the original spill zone were still exposed to residual EVOS hydrocarbons.