Bioaccumulation of anthropogenic contaminants by detritivorous fish in the Río de la Plata estuary: 1-Aliphatic hydrocarbons Original Research Article

The temporal variability and bioaccumulation dynamics of C12–25 n-alkanes, isoprenoids and unresolved aliphatic hydrocarbons (UCM) were studied in a detritivorous fish (Sábalo: Prochilodus lineatus) collected from 1999 to 2005 in the sewage impacted Buenos Aires coastal area. Fish muscles contain huge amounts of n-C12–25 (165 ± 93, 70 ± 48 or 280 ± 134 μg g−1, dry, fresh and lipid weight, respectively) and UCM (931 ± 560, 399 ± 288 and 1567 ± 802 μg g−1) reflecting the chronic bioaccumulation of fossil fuels from sewage particulates. On a temporal basis, lipid normalized aliphatic concentrations peaked by the end of 2001–2002 during the rainiest period over the last four decades (1750 vs. 1083 ± 4.6 mm in 1999, 2004 and 2005), reflecting an enhanced exposition due to massive anthropogenic fluxes from Metropolitan Buenos Aires in wet years. The hydrocarbon composition in fish muscles is enriched in n-C15–17 and isoprenoids relative to a fresh crude oil and settling particulates, with fresher signatures during the 2001–2002 maxima. Fish/settling material bioaccumulation factors (BAFs: 0.4–6.4 dry weight or 0.07–0.94 lipid-organic carbon) plotted against Kow showed a parabolic pattern maximizing at n-C14–18 and isoprenoids. The optimal bioaccumulation window corresponds to highly hydrophobic (log Kow: 7.2–9.9), intermediate-size C14–18 n-alkanes and C15–20 isoprenoids (MW: 198–282; length: 17.9 to 25.4 Å) with melting points ranging from −19.8 to 28 °C. The uptake efficiency is inversely correlated to melting points and increased from 75% for n-C25 to above 90% for n-C14–15 and isoprenoids.