Embryotoxicity of extracts from Lake Ontario rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)
- Trent Univ., Peterborough, Ontario (Canada). Environmental and Resources Studies Program
- Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario (Canada)
Various preparative techniques were used to extract nonpolar organic compounds from the muscle tissue of Lake Ontario rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In this extract, PCBs and organochlorine compounds were detected in nanogram-per-milliliter quantities, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans were detected in picogram-per-milliliter quantities. The extract and various subfractions of the extract were tested for embryotoxicity in a bioassay with embryos of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). The whole extract was embryotoxic to medaka, as were an extract fraction containing PCBs (fraction A) and extract fractions containing nonpolar organochlorine compounds (fractions B and C). When subfractions prepared from fraction A were tested for embryotoxicity, a subfraction containing non-ortho-substituted PCB congeners was embryo-toxic, whereas subfractions containing mono-ortho- and di-ortho-substituted PCB congeners were relatively nontoxic. Pathological lesions characteristic of exposure to planar halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons were observed only in embryos exposed to the non-ortho-PCB subfraction. The non-ortho-PCB subfraction of fraction A was more toxic than the original fraction A, which indicates that nontoxic PCBs reduce the toxicity of the non-ortho-PCBs through some unknown mechanism. This study indicates that organochlorine compounds and non-ortho-substituted PCBs have the potential to be embryotoxic to early life stages of Great lakes fish, but nontoxic contaminants can modify this toxic response. These data are relevant to the interpretation of correlations between embryo mortalities and concentrations of persistent organic contaminants in Great Lakes salmonids.
- OSTI ID:
- 7173186
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States) Vol. 13:9; ISSN 0730-7268; ISSN ETOCDK
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AGE DEPENDENCE
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
BENZOFURANS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
DIOXIN
EMBRYOS
FISHES
FURANS
GREAT LAKES
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
LAKE ONTARIO
LAKES
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
POLLUTION
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
SENSITIVITY
SURFACE WATERS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLLUTION