PT04 Water Quality Monitoring
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday, 11 November 2003
(PT052) Lipid soluble vitamins A and E as integrative measures of fish health for environmental effects monitoring (EEM).
Palace, V1, Werner, J2, Wautier, K1, Baron, C1, Evans, R1, Cobb, D1, 1 Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada2 University of Manitoba, Department of Zoology, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
ABSTRACT- The lipid soluble vitamins A (retinoids) and E (tocopherols) are essential for basal metabolism in fishes. Vitamin A is required for growth, reproduction and for maintaining epithelial tissues. Embryological development is also dependent on adequate stores and the appropriate metabolism of vitamin A. Vitamin E, whose main activity is as a cellular antioxidant, is also required for growth, reproduction and development. Tissue concentrations of both vitamins are altered in organisms exposed to several classes of environmental contaminants, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Because of their importance for a variety of cellular processes and their sensitivity to environmental contaminants, vitamins A and E can be useful indicators of fish health in an EEM framework. A renewed interest in oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea has raised concerns about the health of the ecosystem and subsistence food resources among coastal community members. In partnership with two coastal communities of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, DFO Oceans Programs established the Tariuq (Ocean) community-based monitoring program, which has been piloted for the past two years. As one of the indicators selected, marine and anadromous fish were sampled in 2001 and 2002. Tissue samples were collected for a number of analyses. Mean concentrations of vitamins A and E are reported in liver, the primary vitamin storage organ for several species of fish. In addition to mean concentrations of vitamins, the primary vitamin storage forms are enumerated in the species examined. These data provide useful baseline information against which adverse reactions to environmental perturbations can then be assessed in the Beaufort Sea.
Key words: tocopherol, retinol, arctic fish, community monitoring