UV filters bioaccumulation in fish from Iberian river basins

Abstract

The occurrence of eight organic UV filters (UV-Fs) was assessed in fish from four Iberian river basins. This group of compounds is extensively used in cosmetic products and other industrial goods to avoid the damaging effects of UV radiation, and has been found to be ubiquitous contaminants in the aquatic ecosystem. In particular, fish are considered by the scientific community to be the most feasible organism for contamination monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Despite that, studies on the bioaccumulation of UV-F are scarce. In this study fish samples from four Iberian river basins under high anthropogenic pressure were analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Benzophenone-3 (BP3), ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC) and octocrylene (OC) were the predominant pollutants in the fish samples, with concentrations in the range of ng/g dry weight (d.w.). The results indicated that most polluted area corresponded to Guadalquivir River basin, where maximum concentrations were found for EHMC (241.7 ng/gd.w.). Sediments from this river basin were also analysed. Lower values were observed in relation to fish for OC and EHMC, ranging from below the limits of detection to 23 ng/gd.w. Accumulation levels of UV-F in the fish were used to calculate biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs). These values were always below 1, in the range of 0.04-0.3, indicating that the target UV-Fs are excreted by fish only to some extent. The fact that the highest concentrations were determined in predators suggests that biomagnification of UV-F may take place along the freshwater food web.

Advances in analytical methods and occurrence of organic UV-filters in the environment — A review

“…Similar concentrations were found in Taiwan for ES, HMS, BP3, BP1 and BP8 ranging 0.5 and 6.9 ng/g-dw for wild fish (Tsai et al, 2014). Higher levels were found in wild fish, in samples from Spain for EMC at 241.7 ng/g-dw (Gago-Ferrero et al, 2015; and from Norway for BP3 at 1037 ng/g-dw and OC at 11875 ng/g-dw (Langford et al, 2015). Besides the high concentrations of UV-filters in codfish, Langford et al (2015) also detected levels of BP3, EMC and OC in prawns Pandalus borearis (BP3 at 68.4, OC at 23.1 ng/g-dw).…”

Risks and benefits related to alimentary exposure to xenoestrogens

“…Nevertheless, 4-MBC is potentially dangerous for two reasons: 1) its estrogenic activity can directly be harmful to humans who abundantly use products where it is contained; 2) its dispersion in water and its consequent bioaccumulation in aquatic species poses a serious environmental concern. In fact, a high bioaccumulation of UV filters was demonstrated in seawater samples from beaches in Gran Canaria Island (Rodriguez Sanchez et al, 2015), and high levels of 4-MBT were found in fish from Iberian river basins (Gago-Ferrero et al, 2015). Another widely diffused UV filter is benzophenone 2 (BP-2).…”

Persistence, temporal and spatial profiles of ultraviolet absorbents and phenolic personal care products in riverine and estuarine sediment of the Pearl River catchment, China

“…Significant amounts of these emerging contaminants are being discharged into the environment via treated and untreated wastewater, recreational activities, and other human activities. As a result, they have been widely detected in rivers, lakes, seas, groundwater, and organism tissues [9,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

“…TCC) were found to be fairly persistent [7,24,32]. Accumulation of these emerging contaminants in sediment may pose risks to wildlife, especially benthic and sediment-dwelling organisms because these chemicals can be bio-accumulative in organisms and even be biotransferable in food chains [4,17,33,34].…”