Chemical induction of Tumors in oysters by a mixture of aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons, amines and metals

Abstract

Tumors were induced in eastern oysters ( Crassostrea virginica) by a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons, an aromatic amine, polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinated hydrocarbons, a nitrosoamine and heavy metals. Kidney and enteric tumors developed in oysters following exposure to a mixture containing 3,4-benzopyrene, 1,2-benzanthracene, 2-aminofluorene. N-nitrosodiethylamine, technical chlordane, Aroclors 1242 and 1254, p.p'DDE, cadmium (CdCl 2), chromium (K 2CrO 4) and lead (Pb(NO 3) 2). The chemical concentrations added to a reference sediment from Long Island Sound were 1 x and 10 x the measured level in sediment from Black Rock Harbor (BRH), Bridgeport. Connecticut (normalized for total organic carbon and acid volatile sulfide content for organic and inorganic compounds, respectively). 2-Aminoflourene and N-nitrosodiethylamine, not measured in BRH sediment, were both added at 0·6 and 6·0 μ/g dry sediment. A 3% prevalence of low-grade renal and gastrointestinal tumors developed after 30 days in oysters fed water-column suspended sediment particulate spiked with the mixture of chemicals. Disease progression was most advanced in enteric adenomas. Both types are comparable to those produced after 30 days in the same organs by chemically contaminated Black Rock Harbor sediment. The action of chemical pollutants reported here represents initial findings in a series of studies designed to test sediment contaminants as causal factors for tumors in oysters.