Isolation and tentative identification of compound in bleached-kraft mill effluent capable of causing mixed-function oxygenase induction in fish

A substance isolated from a bleached-kraft mill effluent, capable of causing mixed-function oxygenase (MFO) induction in rainbow trout and in a hepatocyte cell line, was tentatively identified. The MFO-inducing chemicals in final pulp-mill effluent were isolated with the use of C-18 solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography fractionation. Compound identifications for the MFO-inducing fractions were made using gas chromatography with low- and high-resolution mass spectrometry. In comparing data from each of three fractionation trials, we noted that MFO activity corresponded best with the presence of a compound tentatively identified as a chlorinated pterostilbene. The parent compound belongs to the pinosylvin family, a group of naturally occurring substances that are often present in coniferous trees.