Isolation and tentative identification of compound in bleached‐kraft mill effluent capable of causing mixed‐function oxygenase induction in fish

Abstract

AbstractA substance isolated from a bleached‐kraft mill effluent, capable of causing mixed‐function oxygenase (MFO) induction in rainbow trout and in a hepatocyte cell line, was tentatively identified. The MFO‐inducing chemicals in final pulp‐mill effluent were isolated with the use of C18 solid‐phase extraction and high‐performance liquid chromatography fractionation. Compound identifications for the MFO‐inducing fractions were made using gas chromatography with low‐ and high‐resolution mass spec‐trometry. In comparing data from each of three fractionation trials, we noted that MFO activity corresponded best with the presence of a compound tentatively identified as a chlorinated pterostilbene. The parent compound belongs to the pinosylvin family, a group of naturally occurring substances that are often present in coniferous trees.