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Feminization of male common tern embryos is not correlated with exposure to specific PCB congeners

Journal Article · · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. I.C.T. Nisbet & Company, Inc., North Falmouth, MA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston, MA (United States)
  4. Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States)
Recent proposals that reproductive impairment in piscivorous wildlife may be caused by exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals present in the environment require further investigation to elucidate critical exposures and cause-effect linkages. Effects reported in some wildlife species include feminization of male embryos and other gonadal pathologies arising during embryonic development. The environmental contaminants cited as possible causative agents include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their phenolic metabolites (OH-PCBs). Among the more potent estrogenic agents are 4{prime}-hydroxy-2,4,6-trichlorobiphenyl (4{prime}-OH-PCB30) and 4{prime}-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrachlorobiphenyl (r{prime}-Oh-PCB61). However, the parent compounds of these metabolites (PCB30 and PCB61) were not present in Aroclor mixtures, are rare in environmental samples, and have not been reported in wildlife tissues. This paper reports an exploratory study of wild common terns in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. the authors sought to correlate gonadal pathology in embryos with tissue residues of selected chlorobiphenyls. 12 refs., 1 tab.
OSTI ID:
443442
Journal Information:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Journal Name: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 57; ISSN 0007-4861; ISSN BECTA6
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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