Exposure of pacific herring to weathered crude oil: Assessing effects on ova

In order to determine if exposure to Exxon Valdez oil would adversely affect progeny, reproductively mature Pacific herring were confined in water contaminated with weathered crude oil. Progeny were generally not affected by a 16‐d parental exposure to initial aqueous concentrations of ≤58 μg/L tota...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental toxicology and chemistry 2000-06, Vol.19 (6), p.1649-1659
Main Authors: Carls, Mark G., Hose, Jo Ellen, Thomas, Robert E., Rice, Stanley D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agnatha. Pisces
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
chrysene
Clupea pallasi
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gametes
Larvae
Pacific herring
phenanthrene
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
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Summary:In order to determine if exposure to Exxon Valdez oil would adversely affect progeny, reproductively mature Pacific herring were confined in water contaminated with weathered crude oil. Progeny were generally not affected by a 16‐d parental exposure to initial aqueous concentrations of ≤58 μg/L total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), yielding concentrations of up to 9.7 μg/g in ova. In contrast, previous research indicated that a 16‐d direct exposure of herring eggs to similarly weathered oil was detrimental to developing embryos at total initial PAH concentrations of 9 μg/L. Progeny of exposed fish could have been insulated from toxic effects for two reasons. First, as an apparent result of partitioning and metabolism in parental tissues, lower concentrations and less toxic PAHs were preferentially accumulated by ova (primarily naphthalenes; 84–92%). Second, peak exposure concentrations occurred before cell differentiation. The opposite was true for directly exposed eggs; the more toxic multi‐ring PAHs (e.g., phenanthrenes and chrysenes) and alkyl‐substituted homologues were accumulated, and internal concentrations increased during cell division, differentiation, and organ development. Thus, Pacific herring embryos are more critically sensitive to oil pollution than are gametes.
ISSN:0730-7268
1552-8618
DOI:10.1002/etc.5620190624