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U.S. Department of Energy
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Histopathology, enzyme activities, and PAH metabolites in English sole collected near coastal pulp mills

Conference ·
OSTI ID:218415
 [1]
  1. Univ. of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)

The bottom-feeding flatfish, English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus), is widely distributed along the B.C. Pacific coast and fulfills a majority of the requirements as a sentinel species for environmental effects monitoring programs. Studies involving the use of histopathological, biochemical, and chemical tools with English sole collected near the vicinity of B.C. pulp mills are currently being conducted. Analysis, to date, has revealed idiopathic liver lesions to be strongly dependent on location of capture with a prevalence of 30% preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions found in fish collected near pulp mills. All fish residing near pulp mills show hepatocellular hemosiderosis, an iron storage disorder. The mixed-function oxidizing enzyme, EROD, was found to be induced in fish collected near pulp mills. However, the levels of conjugating enzymes, GST and UDP-GT, were found to be unchanged when compared with reference fish. PAH metabolites, measured as FACs in bile, are also present in English sole collected from the mill sites and the conjugated derivatives are presently being identified by HPLC/ES-MS techniques, The relationships between these observations will be discussed.

OSTI ID:
218415
Report Number(s):
CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English