Polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners in the young-of-the-year bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, from several nursery habitats along the US Atlantic coastline

Abstract

Spatial trends of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners were examined by using high resolution gas chromatography – low resolution electron impact mass spectrometry (GC-EIMS) in 414 samples of young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) collected from a total of 29 nursery habitats along the US Atlantic coastline from Massachusetts to Florida. Of the 26 target PBDE congeners, BDE-47 (4 Br), BDE-100 (5 Br), BDE-49 (4 Br), BDE-99 (5 Br), and BDE-154 (6 Br) were the five most frequently detected congeners in the order of decreasing importance. The sum of the concentrations of five major PBDE congeners, referred to as ΣPBDEs, varied between estuaries and also among samples from a given estuary. ΣPBDEs were lowest in YOY bluefish from Vineyard Sound, Nantucket Sound, Great Bay, Delaware Bay, Lynnhaven Bay, Cape Lookout, and Crescent Beach, with maximum ΣPBDE concentrations below 10ng/g wet weight. ΣPBDEs in three bluefish samples from Stamford Harbor were detected at relatively high to unusually high concentrations of 69.1, 205, and 561ng/g wet weight. ΣPBDE values for other Stamford Harbor bluefish were generally low. Highest PBDE concentrations were detected in the vicinity of industrial and urban locations within the New York – New Jersey metropolitan complex. Among them, bluefish from Newark Bay were generally the most contaminated with an average ΣPBDE value of 56.6±30.8ng/g wet weight. ΣPBDEs in bluefish from Newark Bay were numerically greater than ΣPBDEs in bluefish from all locations, however these differences were not statistically significant. Modest to good correlations between ΣPBDEs and lipids were observed for YOY bluefish from Buzzards Bay, Upper New Bedford Harbor, Lower New Bedford Harbor, Outer New Bedford Harbor, Providence Harbor, Housatonic River, Norwalk Harbor, Little Neck Bay, Newark Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Great Bay, Delaware Bay, Patuxent River and Crescent Beach. Poor correlations between ΣPBDE and lipids were observed for bluefish from other estuaries. ΣPBDEs were not always correlated with fish length or weight. ΣPBDEs in YOY bluefish along the US Atlantic coastline modestly paralleled ΣPBDEs in mussels and oysters, from not exact but geographically loosely similar locations, reported in the NOAA Mussel Watch Program. A number of researchers who used the high resolution mass spectrometry reported additional PBDE congeners. Although PBDE congeners we report do appear to be the prominent congeners in these studies, it is likely that the comparisons will be skewed in certain instances.