Estimating Metabolic Costs of Pyrene Exposure Using Whole Animal Respirometry

This project quantified the energetic costs of pyrene detoxification by measuring oxygen consumption rates in fish exposed for either 3 or 15 days in a flow-through respirometer. Biliary 1-OH pyrene was analyzed at the end of the short-term experiment in an attempt to correlate biotransformation with oxygen consumption. No concentration-response relationship was detected in resting routine metabolic rate (RRMR), routine metabolic rate (RMR), or activity-dependent metabolic rate (ADMR) in the short-term experiment. Biliary 1 -OH pyrene concentrations were significantly different ( ~ ~ 0 . 0 5 ) between the 0 mglL, 0.01 mglL, and 0.05 mglL treatment groups. No significant difference was detected between 0.05 mg/L and 0.10 mg/L treatment groups. In the longterm experiment, the control and 0.1 mglL treatment groups did not differ in RMR and ADMR. A small but significant increase ( ~ ~ 0 . 0 5 ) was detected in RRMR with pyrene exposure, suggesting that the energetic costs of pyrene detoxification in juvenile trout may be relatively low.