Survey of receiving-water environmental impacts associated with discharges from pulp mills; 2: Gonad size, liver size, hepatic erod activity and plasma sex steroid levels in white sucker

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1897/1552-8618(1994)13[1089:SOREIA]2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:7016978

Munkittrick, K R; Servos, M R ^[1]; Van Der Kraak, G J; McMaster, M E ^[2]; Portt, C B ^[3]; Heuvel, M.R. van den ^[4]

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1. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Burlington, Ontario (Canada). Great Lakes Lab. for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
2. Univ. of Guelph, Ontario (Canada). Dept. of Zoology
3. C. Portt and Associates, Guelph, Ontario (Canada)
4. Univ. of Waterloo, Ontario (Canada). Dept. of Biology

Fish collected from the receiving areas of 12 Canadian pulp mills were examined, including sites receiving effluent from kraft mills using chlorine as well as sulfite mills. Field collections included sampling of receiving water for chemistry and toxicity testing, and sampling of local fish for organ weights, hepatic MFO (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, EROD) activity, plasma steroid levels, and levels of liver dioxins. The main objectives of this study were to determine whether the discharge of effluent from pulp mills to sites other than Jackfish Bay was associated with physiological or biochemical disruptions in wild fish, whether there was any correlation between waste treatment and the presence of biological responses in wild fish, and whether there was any association between the use of chlorine as a bleaching agent and these responses. Although white sucker collected near bleached-kraft mills exhibited the highest EROD induction and dioxin levels, elevated enzyme activity was observed in fish from sites that did not use chlorine, and depressions in plasma sex steroid levels was not correlated with the level of EROD activity. The absence of chlorine bleaching or the presence of secondary treatment did not eliminate responses in fish, including decreased circulating levels of sex steroids, decreased gonadal size, and increase liver size. This survey has shown that (a) induction of hepatic EROD enzymes and depressions of plasma sex steroid levels during gonadal growth are found downstream of several pulp mills; (b) these changes are seen at some mills without chlorine bleaching and at mills that have secondary treatment; (c) substantial dilutions of nontoxic effluent do not appear to remove these responses; (d) the dominant factor determining the presence or absence of responses appeared to be dilution level; and (e) lab toxicity tests on invertebrates, rainbow trout, and fat-head minnows could not predict the presence of these responses in wild fish.

• OSTI ID: 7016978
• Journal Information: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States), Vol. 13:7; ISSN 0730-7268
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CANADA
WATER POLLUTION
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
DIOXIN
METABOLISM
TOXICITY
FISHES
SENSITIVITY
LIVER
ENZYME INDUCTION
OXIDOREDUCTASES
ENZYME ACTIVITY
WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BODY
CHEMICAL WASTES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ENZYMES
GENE REGULATION
GLANDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRY
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTES
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
POLLUTION
PROTEINS
VERTEBRATES
WASTES
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology