Carcinogenicity of Black Rock Harbor sediment to the eastern oyster and trophic transfer of Black Rock Harbor carcinogens from the blue mussel to the winter flounder

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Environmental Health Perspectives; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3430845· OSTI ID:5074233

Gardner, G R; Yevich, P P; Malcolm, A R ^[1]; Harshbarger, J C ^[2]

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1. Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, RI (United States)
2. Smithsonian Inst., Washington, DC (United States)

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) developed neoplastic disorders when experimentally exposed both in the laboratory and field to chemically contaminated sediment from Black Rock Harbor (BRH), Bridgeport, Connecticut. Neoplasia was observed in oysters after 30 or 60 days of continuous exposure in a laboratory flow-through system to a 20 mg/L suspension of BRH sediment plus postexposure periods of 3, 30, or 60 days. Composite tumor incidence was 13.6% for both exposures. Tumor occurrence was highest in the renal excretory epithelium, followed in order by gill, gonad, gastrointestinal, heart, and embryonic neural tissue. Regression of experimental neoplasia was not observed when the stimulus was discontinued. In field experiments, gill neoplasms developed in oysters, deployed in cages for 30 days at BRH and 36 days at a BRH dredge material disposal area in Central Long Island Sound, and kidney and gastrointestinal neoplasms developed in caged oysters deployed 40 days in Quincy Bay, Boston Harbor. Oysters exposed to BRH sediment in the laboratory and in the field accumulated high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and chlorinated pesticides. Chemical analyses demonstrated high concentrations of PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals in BRH sediment. Known genotoxic carcinogens, cocarcinogens, and tumor promoters were present as contaminants. The uptake of parent PAH and PCBs from BRH sediment observed in oysters also occurs in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). Winter flounder fed BRH-contaminated blue mussels contained xenobiotic chemicals analyzed in mussels. The flounder developed renal and pancreatic neoplasms and hepatotoxic neoplastic precursor lesions, demonstrating trophic transfer of sediment-bound carcinogens up the food chain.

• OSTI ID: 5074233
• Journal Information: Environmental Health Perspectives; (United States), Vol. 90; ISSN 0091-6765
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
KIDNEYS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SEDIMENTS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CARCINOMAS
FISHES
FOOD CHAINS
GILLS
GONADOTROPINS
HEART
MUSSELS
OYSTERS
PANCREAS
PESTICIDES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
BODY
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISEASES
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
GLANDS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HORMONES
HYDROCARBONS
INVERTEBRATES
MOLLUSCS
NEOPLASMS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PEPTIDE HORMONES
PITUITARY HORMONES
PROTEINS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology