Impact of Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent on Population Characteristics, Liver MFO Activity, and Serum Steroid Levels of a Lake Superior White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) Population

1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1371-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Munkittrick ◽  
C. B. Portt ◽  
G. J. Van Der Kraak ◽  
I. R. Smith ◽  
D. A. Rokosh
Keyword(s):  
Lake Superior ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Sex Characteristics ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Spawning Period ◽  
Exposed Fish ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill ◽  
A Site

White sucker (Catostomus commersoni) collected from a site receiving primary-treated bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) were older and had a higher condition factor than fish at a reference site and grew more slowly than fish from three other areas of Lake Superior. The BKME-exposed fish also exhibited an increased age to maturity, smaller gonads, lower fecundity with age, an absence of secondary sex characteristics in males, and females failed to show an increase in egg size with age. Lower serum estradiol and testosterone concentrations and greater hepatic mixed-function oxidase (MFO) activity, as measured by conversion of diphenyloxazole and benzo[ajpyrene were also observed in the BKME-exposed fish. The level of MFO activity varied with season; differences could not be detected between sites during the spring spawning period, but were markedly elevated (up to ninefold) at the BKME site during the summer. The poorer performance of fish at the BKME site appears to be related to decreased levels of serum steroids and consequent abnormalities in reproductive development and carbohydrate metabolism, although the relationship of the changes in steroid levels with the increased hepatic enzyme activity remains to be established.

Responses in a Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) Lifecycle Test and in Wild White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) Exposed to a Canadian Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne L. Parrott ◽  
L. Mark Hewitt ◽  
Tibor G. Kovacs ◽  
Deborah L. MacLatchy ◽  
Pierre H. Martel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Egg Production ◽  
Fathead Minnow ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Fish Reproduction ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Liver Size ◽  
Paper Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill

Abstract To evaluate currently available bioassays for their use in investigating the causes of pulp and paper mill effluent effects on fish reproduction, the responses of wild white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) collected from the receiving environment at the bleached kraft mill at La Tuque, Quebec, were compared with responses of fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) exposed to effluent in a laboratory lifecycle test. White sucker collected at effluent exposed sites had increased liver size but none of the reproductive effects that had been documented in earlier field studies at this site. Exposure to 1, 3, 10, 30, and 100% bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) in the lab led to significantly decreased length, but increased weight and liver size in male fathead minnow. Female length was also decreased and liver size was increased at high effluent exposures. Most effluent concentrations (1 to 30%) significantly increased egg production compared with controls. The fathead minnow lifecycle assay mirrored the effects seen in wild fish captured downstream of the BKME discharge. These results will be used to select short-term fish tests for investigating the causes of and solutions to the effects of mill effluents on fish reproduction.

Seasonal Effects of Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent on Reproductive Parameters of White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) Populations of the St. Maurice River, Quebec, Canada

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique M. Gagnon ◽  
Julian J. Dodson ◽  
Peter V. Hodson ◽  
Glen Van Der Kraak ◽  
John H. Carey
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Exposure ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Reference Station ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Reproductive Parameters ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Gonad Weight ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill

Reproductive parameters and accumulation of chlorophenolic compounds by white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations exposed to bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) were studied in the St. Maurice River, Quebec. Compared with unexposed populations from the same waterway, exposed white sucker showed obvious effects of chemical exposure as far as 100 km downstream of the mill, as revealed by a strong induction of ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity. In males, circulating plasma testosterone levels were the same at all sites, while 11 -ketotestosterone levels were significantly lower at exposed stations. In females, testosterone and 17β-estradiol levels were significantly reduced at the two exposed stations relative to the reference station. Despite different hormone levels during sexual maturation, gonad weight as a proportion of carcass weight was similar at all sites for both sexes during early gonadal development. The relationship between carcass weight and fecundity was more variable at the station immediately downstream of the mill. Biochemical and physiological parameters measured in this study do not allow us to clearly relate perturbations in plasma steroid levels to impaired reproduction as measured by gonad weight and fecundity.

Does annual variation in growth and sexual maturation of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) confound comparisons between pulp mill contaminated and reference rivers?

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 1068-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Bussières ◽  
Marthe Monique Gagnon ◽  
Julian Dodson ◽  
Peter V Hodson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturation ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Gonad Size ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Pulp Mill Effluents ◽  
First Maturity ◽  
Size At Age

A previous study on the effect of pulp and paper effluents on white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), conducted in 1991 and 1992, in both effluent-exposed and reference rivers showed that fish grew faster at downstream sites than at upstream sites. However, in contrast with fish from a reference river, fish exposed to effluent showed no decrease in age or size at first maturity or increase in gonad size or fecundity in response to greater growth. The objective of the present study, conducted in 1993, was to test if differences in measures of growth and sexual maturation between fish populations in exposed and reference rivers would vary from year to year and whether such variation would affect conclusions concerning the effects of pulp mill effluents. Although size at age, fecundity, and age at first maturity varied between the two studies, patterns of demographic responses to pulp mill effluents, relative to reference populations, remained the same, i.e., conclusions about effects of pulp mill effluents did not change despite variation in demographic variables between years and sites. This study reaffirmed the view that only by including the fish populations in a reference river could effects due to bleached kraft mill effluent be separated from effects due to nutrient gradients.

Reproductive Dysfunction and MFO Activity in Three Species of Fish Exposed to Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent at Jackfish Bay, Lake Superior

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.R. Munkittrick ◽  
G.J. Van Der Kraak ◽  
M.E. McMaster ◽  
C.B. Portt
Keyword(s):  
Pulp Mill ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Reproductive Dysfunction ◽  
Reproductive Regulation ◽  
Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill ◽  
Longnose Sucker ◽  
Mixed Function Oxygenase

Abstract Our recent studies have demonstrated reproductive dysfunction in white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), longnose sucker (C. catostomus) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) populations exposed to bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME). Although all three species show elevated levels of hepatic mixed function oxygenase (MFO) activity and depressed circulating steroid levels, we have been unable to provide clear evidence of whether these two events are directly linked to whole organism changes. Although depressed steroid levels appear to be linked to delayed sexual maturity, changes in fecundity and reduced secondary sexual characteristics in white sucker and lake whitefish, longnose sucker show no impacts of reduced steroid levels on reproductive performance. Installation of secondary treatment at this pulp mill did not alleviate the steroidal dysfunction or MFO induction. However, samples collected after a two week maintenance shutdown showed a return to reference levels of MFO activity in both sexes and of steroid levels in male fish. The relationship between elevated MFO activity and depressed steroid levels is unclear, but detailed experiments suggest that the two phenomena are not directly linked. White sucker show depressed steroid production and impaired reproductive regulation independent of MFO activity.

Effects of Biotreated Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent on Fingerling Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 846-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Servizi ◽  
R.W. Gordon ◽  
D. W. Martens ◽  
W. L. Lockhart ◽  
D. A. Metner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Chain Growth ◽  
Exposed Fish ◽  
Bacterial Kidney Disease ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Interrenal Cells ◽  
Liver Somatic Index ◽  
Kraft Mill ◽  
Laboratory Exposure

Fingerling chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were chronically exposed in the laboratory to nonlethal biologically treated bleached kraft mill effluent (TBKME) at concentrations and temperatures typical of the Fraser River. Laboratory exposure was for 144 d in freshwater followed by 66 d in seawater without TBKME. Exposed fish bioconcentrated chlorophenols, chloroguiacols, and extractable organochlorine substances in proportion to the aqueous concentrations of the substances. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD's) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF's) were also bioaccumulated, but the low body burdens compared with wild fingerling chinook indicated that the laboratory environment did not account for biomagnification via the food chain. Growth, mortality, hematocrit, protein and fat content, liver somatic index, sorbitol dehydrogenase, and tolerance to hypoxia were not affected by TBKME exposure. Increased nuclear diameters of interrenal cells among TBKME-exposed fish indicated that these fish were experiencing chronic stress. Hepatic and renal granulomas of Bacterial Kidney Disease origin were observed in some TBKME-exposed fish, but there was only a tenuous link between TBKME exposure and disease resistance. Hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity was correlated with dioxin toxic equivalency (TEQ). From this analysis, we estimated a threshold for EROD induction between 0.3 and 1.0 ng TEQ∙kg−1.

Use of White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) Populations to Assess the Health of Aquatic Ecosystems Exposed to Low-Level Contaminant Stress

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1455-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Munkittrick ◽  
D. G. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Reference Population ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Chemical Effects ◽  
Further Development

There is a need to develop inexpensive methods for evaluating contaminant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. This paper describes a simple, rapid, cost-effective mechanism for the in situ assessment of toxicant impact on fish populations. The framework assumes that changes in the death or birth rate, or alterations in the availability of food or habitat, are associated with characteristic responses of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations. The responses have been grouped into five main patterns based on the population characteristics of mean age, fecundity, and condition factor. Populations which are growing, reproducing, and surviving at rates which are indistinguishable from a reference (control) population are considered to be free from adverse chemical effects. Analysis of published studies showed that white sucker populations responsed to several classes of environmental stressors in a predictable fashion and the framework suggested areas for follow-up study. The framework does have several limitations and is dependent upon the selection and appropriate sampling of a comparable reference population. Requirements for further development are discussed.

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