DNA adducts in perch, Perca fluviatilis, from a creosote contaminated site and in perch exposed to an organic solvent extract of creosote contaminated sediment

DNA adducts were analysed by 32P-postlabelling in the liver of wild perch, Perca fluviatilis, from a site in the river Angermanälven, Sweden, whose sediments are contaminated with creosote. The level of DNA adducts in fish from the creosote contaminated site was 6.82 ± 4.08 nmol mol−1 nucleotides compared to 0.21 ± 0.20 nmol mol−1 nucleotides in fish from a reference site. Two diagonal zones including 10–12 adduct spots were observed on autoradiograms derived from perch from the contaminated site, while only very faint adduct spots were observed on autoradiograms derived from the reference site. In the laboratory, groups of perch were exposed to an organic solvent extract prepared from the creosote contaminated sediment or to benzo(a)pyrene by oral administration. Perch treated with the extract had adduct patterns very similar to those observed in perch from the contaminated field site. One minor adduct was identified by co-chromatography with a 32P-labelled standard of 7R,8S,9S-trihydroxy, 10R(N2deoxyguanosyl-3′-phosphate)-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo(a)pyrene (BaPDE-dG-3′p). Autoradiograms derived from the B(a)P exposed fish showed one major adduct and several less intense spots. The major B(a)P-adduct had the same chromatographic properties as the standard BaPDE-dG-3′p-adduct.