Responses of metabolic pathways to polycyclic aromatic compounds in flounder following oil spill in the Baltic Sea near the Estonian coast.

In January 2006 an oil spill that involved approximately 40tons of heavy fuel oil affected more than 30km of the north-west coast of Estonia. The aquatic pollution of the coastal area of the Baltic Sea was monitored by measuring the content of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs and PAH metabolites) in flounder (Platichthys flesus trachurus Duncker). One hundred and thirty-one fish were collected: muscle and liver tissues were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); bile and urine samples were analyzed using fixed wavelengths fluorescence.