RAISED PLASMA VITELLOGENIN IN MALE WILD BROWN TROUT (SALMO TRUTTA) NEAR A WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IN IRELAND

• Published in: Environmental toxicology and chemistry 2008-08, Vol.27 (8), p.1773-1779
• Main Authors: Tarrant, H, Mousakitis, G, Tattersall, N, Lyons, A, Maloney, M, Llewellyn, N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal reproduction; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic environment; biomarkers; blood plasma; Brown trout; Copyrights; Disruption; Documents; Drinking water; Ecosystems; Effluents; Endocrine disruption; Endocrine disruptors; endocrine-disrupting chemicals; environmental exposure; Estrogen; Estrogens; Exposure; Fish; Fish populations; freshwater fish; Health; Health hazards; Incidence; intersexuality; Lakes; Lyons; Males; Municipal wastewater; Plants (organisms); Population; Populations; Presses; Reproductive health; Rivers; Salmo trutta; Studies; Toxicology; Trout; Vitellogenin; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plant; Wastewater treatment plants; water pollution
• ISSN: 0730-7268; 1552-8618
• DOI: 10.1897/07-436.1

Ovotestis (intersex) and raised plasma vitellogenin in male fish are widely employed biomarkers of estrogencontamination in the aquatic environment. In the present study, these biomarkers were used to determine whether Irish rivers contain estrogenic chemicals at levels capable of affecting the reproductive health and success of exposed fish populations. A number of aquatic ecosystems were investigated (the rivers Liffey, Lee, and Bandon and the Killarney lakes). A survey of male wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) was carried out to assess the incidence of endocrine disruption in the feral fish population; no evidence of intersex was found in any of the wild fish sampled. Raised plasma vitellogenin was detected, however, in the wild brown trout downstream of a major municipal wastewater treatment plant on the river Liffey.