Mutagenicity studies on herring gulls from different locations on the Great Lakes. II. Mutagenic evaluation of extracts of herring-gull eggs in a battery of in vitro mammalian and microbial tests

Journal Article · · J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States)

OSTI ID:7132472

Ellenton, J A; McPherson, M F; Maus, K L

Herring-gull (Larus argentatus) eggs were collected from five locations on the Great Lakes and from one colony on the Atlantic coast for organochlorine analysis and mutagenesis testing. The Great Lakes colonies were chosen for their different contaminant levels, while the Atlantic coast colony was used as a relatively clean control. The eggs were homogenized and extracted, and the extracts were tested in the Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay for induction of point mutations and in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells for the induction of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and chromosome aberrations. None of the extracts was mutagenic in Salmonella, either in the presence of absence of metabolic activation. However, all of the extracts, including the clean control, caused significant increases in both the SCE rate and in the number of chromosome aberrations in the CHO cells. There was no apparent relationship between contaminant levels and the magnitude of these responses or the doses at which they occurred, although the chemical analysis indicated a wide range in the concentrations of the different organochlorides present.

• Research Organization: National Wildlife Research Center, Ottawa, Ontario
• OSTI ID: 7132472
• Journal Information: J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States), Vol. 12:2-3
• 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
GENETIC EFFECTS
MUTAGEN SCREENING
GREAT LAKES
WATER POLLUTION
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIRDS
CHO CELLS
CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS
EGGS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HOMOGENATES
METABOLIC ACTIVATION
SALMONELLA
SISTER CHROMATID EXCHANGES
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
DATA
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
LAKES
MICROORGANISMS
MUTATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
SCREENING
SURFACE WATERS
VERTEBRATES
560305* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Vertebrates- (-1987)