Perchlorate in fish from a contaminated site in east-central Texas

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Abstract

Perchlorate, a known thyroid endocrine disruptor, contaminates surface waters near military instillations where solid fuel rocket motors are manufactured or assembled. To assess potential perchlorate exposure to fish and the human population which may feed on them, fish were collected around the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in McLennan County, TX, and analyzed for the presence of the perchlorate anion. The sampling sites included Lake Waco and Belton Lake, and several streams and rivers within their watersheds. The general tendency was that perchlorate was only found in a few species sampled, and perchlorate was not detected in every individual within these species. When detected in the fish, perchlorate tissue concentrations were greater than that in the water. This may be due to highly variable perchlorate concentrations in the water coupled with individual-level variation in elimination from the body, or to routes of exposure other than water.

Introduction

The various salts of perchlorate—including ammonium, sodium, and potassium—are used as oxidizers where explosive or combustive reactions are required to occur under low oxygen conditions. Typical products which contain perchlorate for this purpose include solid fuel rockets and missiles, flares, illuminating ammunition, matches, fireworks, and automobile airbags (Urbansky, 1998, Urbansky, 2002). Environmental contamination of water sources primarily occurs near military and industrial installations where perchlorate is handled. In contrast to the health effects data on humans and rodents (Fernandez Rodriguez et al., 1991, Wolff, 1998, Clark, 2000, York et al., 2001), little data exist on potential ecological effects of environmental perchlorate contamination. Fish and wildlife may also be chronically exposed to perchlorate in areas where such contamination exists (Smith et al., 2001).

Possible health effects of perchlorate in humans and ecological receptors stems from the fact that it is known to affect thyroid function via inhibition of iodide uptake and subsequent thyroid hormone synthesis (Wolff, 1998, Clark, 2000). In teleost fish, thyroid hormones promote growth, reproduction, and embryo-larval development, and initiate metamorphosis (Cyr and Eales, 1988, Leatherland, 1994, Power et al., 2001, Brown et al., 2004). Because of the involvement of thyroid hormones in such fitness components, thyroid endocrine disruption could ultimately be manifested at the population, community, or ecosystem level of biological organization. Although the mechanisms by which perchlorate acts on the thyroid have been well established, there is little information on the potential impact of perchlorate in ecologically relevant species.

In central and east Texas, perchlorate has been detected in water at two former military manufacturing sites: the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (LHAAP) (Smith et al., 2001) and the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) (USACE, 2004). In a study at LHAAP, Smith et al. (2001) detected perchlorate in fish and other aquatic organisms. Based on a small number of samples, they found that perchlorate was infrequently detected in fish from contaminated sites, but was often found in fish tissues exceeding those in co-collected water samples. However, it is not known if this was a widespread phenomenon in other areas where perchlorate is found in surface waters.

The perchlorate anion is extremely water-soluble and environmentally stable resulting in rapid movement through ground and surface waters (Urbansky, 1998). This fact, combined with the widespread use of perchlorate in industrial and military applications, creates the potential for perchlorate contamination in the environment. The low number of known contaminated sites is probably limited by the fact that widespread monitoring for this contaminant has not been carried out. This is confounded by the paucity of knowledge concerning environmental fate, transport, toxicokinetics, bioavailability, and effects of this compound on water quality in aquatic systems. Furthermore, because humans frequently consume fish flesh, this represents a possible pathway of exposure to human populations situated in close proximity to perchlorate-contaminated habitats. Thus, the goals of this effort were to assess exposure of fish to perchlorate as well as to assess the exposure potential for perchlorate in humans through the consumption of contaminated fish.

Section snippets

Study site

The perchlorate-contaminated sites were streams originating from or passing through the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP), nearby streams, and local rivers within the Lake Waco and Belton Lake watersheds (Fig. 1). The streams sites sampled included Coryell Creek, Wasp Creek (both initially presumed to be uncontaminated with perchlorate), Station Creek (ST1 and ST2), Harris Creek (H1, H2, and H3), and the South Bosque River (SB1, SB2, and SB3; Fig. 1). We also sampled in Lake Waco

Percent recovery and detection limits

Percent recovery and detection limits were determined by spiking water samples, tissues, and tissue extracts with known amounts of perchlorate. Percent recoveries from tissues ranged from 81 to 101%. The detection limit in water was 1 μg/L. The detection limit in tissue extracts was 2.5 μg/L. The standard parameters of extraction included 20 mL extraction volume and at least 5 g tissue (wet weight) extracted.

Temporal variation in perchlorate water concentrations

Results presented in Fig. 2 indicate that perchlorate water concentrations may fluctuate

Discussion

In general, the frequency of detection of perchlorate in fish tissues collected in streams seems to be associated with proximity to the NWIRP. Although the ecological ramifications of this pattern are not clear, it has been found that thyroid histology of central stonerollers from this same stream are also impacted by perchlorate (Theodorakis et al., in press). Although the water concentrations are much lower than the US EPA (2002) Tier II acute and chronic effects screening levels for

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Brazos River Authority through the Fort Worth District US Army Corps of Engineers, and by US Department of Defense contract CU1141, through the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) under Cooperative Agreement IERA-99-001 with the US Air Force. The conclusions and interpretations in this study are strictly those of the authors and do not represent the opinions or endorsements, expressed or implied, of the US Army Corps of

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