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PLANAR CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS (PCHS) IN COLONIAL FISH-EATING WATERBIRD EGGS FROM THE GREAT LAKES
Citation:
Tillitt, D., G. Ankley, AND J. Geisy. PLANAR CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS (PCHS) IN COLONIAL FISH-EATING WATERBIRD EGGS FROM THE GREAT LAKES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-90/209.
Description:
Reproductive impairment of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritis) and Caspian terns Hydroprogne caspia) has recently been observed in the Great Lakes of North America. lanarchlorinated hydrocarbons (PCHs), which include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), are believed to be at least partially responsible for the increased incidence of teratogenesis and embryonic mortality. he objective of this study was to assess the potency of the PCH mixtures in egg extracts from these colonial waterbirds. he relative potency of the egg extracts was assessed by their ability to induce cytochrome P-450-dependent ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) in H4IIE rat hepatoma cells. he magnitude of the response was compared with EROD induction in cell cultures by a standard 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). he TCDD-equivalents derived by this bioassay concur with residue analysis and biological data, in that the highest TCDD equivalents were found in waterbird egg composites from areas with greater PCH concentrations and more severe reproductive effects. ignificant concentrations of PCHs were detected in all sites tested the range of TCDD equivalents in the waterbird eggs was 49-415 pg/g, uncorrected for extraction efficiencies. he evidence is strong for at least a partial role of PCHs as causal agents in the reproductive impairment of fish-eating waterbirds from the Great Lakes of North America.