Detection of pentachlorophenol and its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates in fish bile and exposure water

Abstract

The glucuronide and sulfate conjugates of pentachlorophenol (PCP) that were present in the bile and exposure water of goldfish (Carassius auratus) were used to develop methodology to quantify PCP and its metabolites. Reverse phase HPLC with radioactivity detection separated PCP and its metabolites, and was used to verify a method of quantification that used differential extraction and scintillation counting. Extractions of aqueous phase at pH 2 or 8, with butanol, ethyl acetate, or ether indicated that ether at pH 8 best separated PCP from its metabolites. The sulfate conjugate of PCP was the major metabolite produced when goldfish were exposed to 125 μg ¹⁴C‐PCP/1. It was present primarily in the exposure water, but also appeared in the bile.

Key words:

• pentachlorophenyl glucuronide
• excretion
• PCP pentachlorophenol
• pentachlorophenyl sulfate

Notes

Present address ‐ Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, NOAA, 2205 Commonwealth Boulevard, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105–1593