Analysis of Multiple Tire Rubber-Derived Chemicals in Fish Bile and Plasma: Analytical Method and Field Assessment in Puget Sound, WA, USA

Abstract Tire rubber-derived chemicals (TRCs) are known to be highly toxic to fish, but understanding of their environmental levels and fate is still limited. This study presents a new method for the analysis of 18 TRCs, including phenylenediamines (TRC-PDs), their quinone derivatives (TRC-Qs), and rubber vulcanizing and curing-related chemicals (TRC-VCRs) in fish bile and plasma samples. We applied this method in bile and plasma samples from English sole collected in urban, near-urban, and nonurban sites in Puget Sound, WA, USA. TRCs were detected in 100% of bile and 96% of plasma samples from English sole collected from all nine sites in Puget Sound. Mean TRC levels in bile samples per site ranged between 0.8 and 18 ng/mL, while plasma levels ranged between 0.22 and 0.63 ng/mL, with total summed reaching up to 31 ng/mL in bile and 1.3 ng/mL in plasma. TRC-PDs were the most abundant group of TRC in both bile and plasma. Higher levels of TRCs in bile suggests this matrix to be more valuable for environmental monitoring, providing more sensitive detection of TRC during low exposures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first data set reporting environmental levels of 18 TRCs in the bile and plasma of field-caught fish.