Investigation of fixed wavelength fluorescence results for biliary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formed in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

Abstract Fixed wavelength fluorescence (FF) and synchronous fluorescence scanning (SFS) of fish bile are commonly used methods to analyze for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. A range of conjugated oxidation products from petrogenic PAHs are normally accumulated in the bile. Therefore their detection is important. In the present study, phenanthrene and naphthalene metabolites, formed in vivo in Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), were used to study the response of these compounds in both FF and SFS analyses. The selected synthetic metabolites were (−)-(1 R ,2 R )-1,2-dihydrophenanthrene-1,2-diol and (−)-(1 R ,2 R )-1,2-dihydronaphthalene-1,2-diol. The study findings showed that the recommended excitation and emission wavelengths for FF analysis do not comprise the maximum emission wavelengths for these metabolites, providing an incorrect estimation of the PAH exposure. A method developed in our laboratory for the synthesis of (−)-(1 R ,2 R )-1,2-dihydrophenanthrene-1,2-diol is also described.