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FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDIES OF CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RELATED DISEASES IN FISH AND MOLLUSCS OF NEW ENGLAND
Citation:
Gardner, G.R. FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDIES OF CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RELATED DISEASES IN FISH AND MOLLUSCS OF NEW ENGLAND. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/A-93/120 (NTIS PB93199438).
Description:
The concentration of PCBS, PAHS, insecticides and metals in some aquatic ecosystems have reached high levels placing identified populations at risk to chemical, physical and biological agents in estuarine and open coastal areas of the United States. n the last three decades scientific studies bolstered evidence for a causal relationship between spontaneous and chemically induced pathological effects on marine organisms y and exposure to industrial and agricultural pollutants discharged into aqu8tic systems. ur epidemiological studies investigating chemical and pollutant related diseases in marine fish and shellfish correlates pathological effects to known concentrations of pollutants. nvestigations of disease prevalence at nine New England nearshore and offshore study sites demonstrated a relationship between liver neoplasms in winter flounder and concentration of sediment benzo(a]pyrene. n similar experiments our laboratory studies strengthened the causal interrelationship between sediment contaminants and tumors of benthic fish by demonstrating induction of nonneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in young-of-the-year and 1-year class winter flounder exposed to sediment from Black Rack Harbor, Connecticut. ur Laboratory has studied pathological effects in invertebrates, particularly molluscs, exposed to toxic chemicals and environmental pollutants since 1966. e documented the first experimental evidence of carcinogenicity from exposure to environmentally stable carcinogens in 1986 after tumors in the Eastern oyster and blue mussel exposed to sediment from Black Rock Harbor.