Organophosphate flame retardants and organosiloxanes in predatory freshwater fish from locations across Canada

Abstract

Whole body homogenates of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) or Walleye (Sander vitreus) collected from Canadian lakes were screened for organophosphate flame retardant (OPFR) and organosiloxane compounds. Six OPFR and five siloxane compounds were detected above quantitation limits in at least one individual fish from sampled lakes. The OPFRs, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP), were most frequently quantified with concentrations ranging from <0.07 to 9.8 ng/g (ww). Levels of TBOEP were highest in fish from the Great Lakes region while TCEP was detected only in fish from the northernmost lakes in our network. Concentrations of the cyclic siloxanes, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), were above quantitation limits in all fish. D5 was the most abundant siloxane across all sampling locations with the highest concentrations (45–719 ng/g ww) observed in Lake Trout from the western end of Lake Ontario near the mouth of the Niagara River.