Polycyclic and nitro musks in the environment: A comparison between Canadian and European aquatic biota

Nitro and polycyclic musks were determined for the first time in Canadian aquatic fauna such as lobster, winter flounder, American eel, lake trout, clams and mussels. Samples from densely populated areas, Halifax and the industrialized Miramachi estuary, showed relatively high concentrations of musk ketone (4-acetyl-1-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethyl-2,6-dinitrobenzene, MK; maximum levels: mussels 2,200 ng/g lipid; winter flounder muscle 2,700 ng/g lipid; clams 17,700 ng/g lipid) and HHCB (1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethyl-cyclopenta[g]-2-benzopyrane, ‘galaxolide’; mussels 1,700 ng/g lipid; winter flounder 40 ng/g lipid; clams 3,000 ng/g lipid), while the samples from sparsely populated areas like Cap-Pelé exhibited lower levels (MK maximum levels 130 ng/g lipid; HHCB maximum levels 16 ng/g lipid). Most samples contained relatively low concentrations of musk xylene (1-tert-butyl-3,5-dimetyl-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene, MX) and AHTN (7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl-tetrahydro-napthalene, ‘tonalide’). In contrast, in Western Europe, concentrations of the polycyclic musks HHCB and AHTN in fish presently exceed those of the nitro musks by about one to three orders of magnitude. These data seem to reflect the different application modes in Western Europe and North America with regard to the prevailing musk components in fragrances. Synthetic musks were not detectable in most commercial fish oils used in the preparation of aquaculture feed and fish lipids extracted in the 1980ʹs in the laboratory, with the exception of a pollock (Pollachius virens) lipid from the Halifax area, which contained MX and MK at 350 and 64 ng/g lipid, respectively.