Reproductive effects of dioxin and PCBs in fundulus heteroclitus
- Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, RI (United States)
- Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)
- SAIC, Narragansett, RI (United States)
Fundulus heteroclitus is being used as a model fish to develop methods for assessing reproductive impacts, including endocrine effects, that are due to chlorinated organics present in marine systems. The goal is to produce useful effects indicators for ecological risk assessment. Reproductive responses such as fecundity, pituitary gonadotropin content, follicular steriodogenesis, and embryo/larval survival and growth are being measured. In a preliminary laboratory study, fish fed an artificial diet containing the highest dose of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,459 pg dioxin/g diet) exhibited tissue concentrations of 412 pg/g after 56 days, while fish fed the least contaminated diet (2.2 pg/g) showed no accumulation. Egg concentrations were approximately 50% of those found in the whole fish and accumulation was directly related to dose. In a subsequent four-month reproductive study, adult mortality occurred at a dietary exposure of 1,620 pg/g (nominal concentration). Data on reproductive responses are being analyzed. In related field studies, F. heteroclitus collected within the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site accumulated non-ortho- and mono-ortho-substituted chlorobiphenyls in their liver tissue, with the summation of these congeners averaging 35 {mu}g/g (dry wt). Significantly reduced larval survival was observed in this population, and 94% of the dead larvae had spinal abnormalities.
- OSTI ID:
- 42912
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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