THESIS APPROVAL

Capitella capitata sp.1 with fluoranthene (Forbes et al., 1996), Arenicola marina with
pyrene (Christensen et al., 2002), Armandia brevis with naphthalene (Meador et al.,
1995) and Abarenicola pacifica with benzo (a) pyrene (Weston, 1990). In contrast
with some aquatic oligochaetes species, slow biotransformation rate to metabolize
PAHs is observed including Lumbriculus variegatus with pyrene and benzo (a)
pyrene (Harkey et al., 1994a; Leppanen and Kukkonen, 2000b) and Monopylephorus
rubroniveus with fluoranthene (Weinstein et al., 2003).
In fish, several studies reported that many species have a MFO enzyme
system, such as mosquito fish Gambusia affinis (Chamber, 1979), killi fish Fundulus
heteroclitus (Stegeman, 1979) and rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri (Stegeman and
Chevion, 1980), etc. Most MFO activity is localized in the liver, gills and kidney
(Lindstorm-Seppa et al., 1981). When the parent compounds are broken down, the
polar metabolites are then ultimately excreted via the gallbladder or the urine
(Howard, 1989; Varanasi et al., 1989; Hellou et al., 1999; Klumpp et al., 2002).
6. Accumulation and Release by Aquatic Organisms
PAHs can be accumulated by aquatic organism (Vijayavel and
Balasubramanian, 2006b). The concentrations detected in tissues of both freshwater
and marine animals are generally found in the low ppb range, except near point
sources of PAH pollution (Neff, 1985). For instance, the surveys of PAHs in marine
bivalve mollusks along the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States have
confirmed a high degree of correlation with industrial, urban and recreational uses of
the coastal water (Dunn and Stich, 1976; Dunn and Young, 1976; Mix and Schaffer,
1979). Residues of total PAHs in many aquatic species investigated from field survey
were recorded in Table 5. Additionally, lower molecular weight compound, such as
naphthalene, was also observed. For example, naphthalene constituted 75-80% of
total PAHs found in the muscle, liver and gonads of American plaice and yellow tail
flounder (Hellou and Warren, 1996), and 57% of total PAHs found in edible clams
Tapes philippinarum and Venus gallina (Binelli and Provini, 2003). Average
naphthalene residue in fish was determined at a concentration of 8.1 µg/g (Anyakora
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