Experimental Induction of Liver Tumours in Rainbow Trout (Salmo gairdneri) by Contaminated Sediment from Hamilton Harbour, Ontario

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2161-2167 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Metcalfe ◽  
V. W. Cairns ◽  
J. D. Fitzsimons

Sediments from Hamilton Harbour and an uncontaminated control site were collected and extracted for organic contaminants to investigate the putative association between chemical contaminants and high incidences of fish tumours in Hamilton Harbour. Sediment extract from Hamilton Harbour had high levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and was mutagenic in the Ames bacterial mutagenicity assay. In two sets of experiments using a trout sac-fry microinjection route of exposure, Hamilton Harbour sediment extract induced hepatocellular carcinomas in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).

1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Niimi

Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), white bass (Morone chrysops), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were collected from Lakes Ontario and Erie to examine the relationship between contaminant levels in females and their eggs. Factors such as the percent lipid in the fish and percent of total lipid deposited in the eggs significantly influenced (P < 0.01) contaminant transfer. The percentages of the 9–11 organic contaminants transferred generally showed less variation within a species than the percentages for a substance transferred among the five species examined. This relationship was consistent even though there was over a 10-fold range in contaminant concentrations within a given species. Mercury did not demonstrate this response because the percentage in eggs was low for all species. The levels of PCB monitored in eggs of rainbow trout collected from Lake Ontario suggest that egg and fry survival rates could be affected based on the toxicological evidence from other studies. An examination of the possible effects of spawning on the kinetics of contaminants among these species suggests that relative body concentrations of organic contaminants may be decreased by 5% or be increased by 10%, and mercury levels may be increased by 6–22% following the deposition of eggs. The amount of change varies with species and is influenced by the percent egg weight of body weight, and the rate of contaminant transfer from females to eggs.Key words: toxicology, contaminants, reproduction, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie


1976 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Hrudey ◽  
G.A. Sergy ◽  
T. Thackeray

Abstract Acute toxicity testing using rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri Richardson) was conducted on two wastewater streams from an oil sands extraction and upgrading plant. The main effluent stream from the upgrading plant was non-acutely toxic in flow-through bioassay while the construction drainage from the tailings pond dyke was acutely lethal in static bioassay with an extrapolated LC50 of 11% (by volume). With no obvious toxicant present, trace organic analysis was undertaken based on the high indeterminate organic carbon content of the sample. Analysis by GC-MS of the sample was able to identify four compounds: 2, 6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol, (BHT); di-n-butyl phthalate, (DBP); bis (2-ethylhexyl) adipate, (BEHA); and bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, (BEHP). Toxicity testing of the compounds required the evaluation of various schemes for the preparation of the test mixtures. Direct emulsion of the test compounds in water was ultimately adopted. Ninety-six hour static bioassays with rainbow trout indicated LC50 values of 540 mg/l for BEHP, 3 mg/l for BHT, 1.2 mg/l for DBP, and an approximate range of 54–110 mg/l for BEHA. Loss of emulsified components from the test mixture during the bioassays suggested that calculated LC50 values likely underestimate the actual toxicity of the compounds. The contribution by BEHA and BEHP to the whole effluent toxicity was likely minor while BHT and DBP indicated sufficient acute lethal toxicity to warrant further consideration. The feasibility of trace organic analysis and component toxicity testing as a means for conducting longer term research on oil sands wastewaters was demonstrated.


1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.P. Murphy ◽  
H. Brouwer ◽  
M.E. Fox ◽  
E. Nagy

Abstract Eighty-one sediment cores were collected to determine the extent of coal tar contamination in a toxic area of Hamilton Harbour. Over 800 samples were analyzed by a UV spectrophotometric technique that was standardized with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. The coal tar distribution was variable. The highest concentrations were near the Stelco outfalls and the Hamilton-Wentworth combined sewer outfalls. The total concentration of the 16 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 48,300 m3 of near-surface sediments exceeded 200 µg/g.


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1801-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. McCauley ◽  
W. L. Pond

Preferred temperatures of underyearling rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were determined in both vertical and horizontal temperature gradients. No statistically significant difference was found between the preferred temperatures by the two different methods. This suggests that the nature of the gradient plays a lesser role than generally believed in laboratory investigations of temperature preference.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document