Tissue distribution of triphenyltin compounds in marine teleost fishes

Continuous release of the highly toxic triphenyltin compounds (TPT) from antifouling paints and fungicides has caused serious pollution to urbanized coastal marine environments worldwide since the 1960s. Using gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC MS), this study investigated the distribution profile of TPT in 15 types of tissues of four marine teleost fish species collected from Hong Kong waters. Concentrations of TPT in various tissues had a significant positive correlation with protein contents in the tissues (r = 0.346, p < 0.001) and, to a lesser extent with lipid contents (r = 0.169, p = 0.020). Highest concentrations of TPT were consistently found in liver, ranging from 1074.9 to 3443.7 ng/g wet weight; whereas fish scales always contained the least concentration of TPT in all species, ranging from 10.4 to 48.5 ng/g wet weight. Through mass balance models and regression analyses, muscle tissues were found to contribute most to the total TPT body burden, and the average TPT concentration of both dorsal and ventral muscles was identified as the best predictor for estimating TPT burden in the entire fish. Hence, further investigations of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of TPT in fishes should adopt this modelling approach in estimating its total body burden in individual fish.

Automated summary

Continuous release of highly toxic triphenyltin compounds (TPT) from antifouling paints and fungicides has caused serious pollution to urbanized coastal marine environments worldwide since the 1960s. This study investigated the distribution profile of TPT in various tissues of marine teleost fish species collected from Hong Kong waters, revealing a positive correlation between TPT concentrations and protein contents in tissues. Muscle tissues were found to contribute most to the total TPT body burden in the fish, making the average TPT concentration in dorsal and ventral muscles a good predictor for estimating TPT burden. Further investigations should adopt similar modeling approaches to estimate the total TPT body burden in individual fish.