Long-term and transgenerational effects of nonylphenol exposure at a key stage in the development of Crassostrea gigas. Possible endocrine disruption?

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 256:293-300 (2003) - doi:10.3354/meps256293 Long-term and transgenerational effects of nonylphenol exposure at a key stage in the development of Crassostrea gigas. Possible endocrine disruption? Helen E. Nice1,2,*, David Morritt1, Mark Crane1, Mike Thorndyke1,3 1School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom 2Present address: Science and Technology, Sydney Water, 51 Hermitage Road, West Ryde, New South Wales 2114, Australia 3Present address: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Kristineberg Marine Research Laboratory, 450 34 Fiskebäckskil, Sweden *Email: helen.nice@sydneywater.com.au ABSTRACT: The widespread aquatic pollutant nonylphenol has been found to induce long-term and transgenerational effects in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas that have not previously been reported. Evidence is provided demonstrating that when larvae are exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of nonylphenol for a single 48 h exposure at a key stage in their development, long-term sexual developmental effects are induced. Data provided by this study suggest that exposure to 1 and 100 µg l-1 nonylphenol at Days 7 to 8 post-fertilization results in a change in the sex ratio towards females and an increase in the incidence of hermaphroditism (10 mo later, up to 30% of the resulting adults were fully functional hermaphrodites). Gamete viability is also affected, resulting in poor embryonic and larval development (up to 100% mortality) of the subsequent generation. KEY WORDS: Crassostrea gigas · Nonylphenol · Endocrine disruption · Transgenerational · Critical exposure period · Larval development · Hermaphrodite · Aquaculture · Oyster Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 256. Online publication date: July 17, 2003 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2003 Inter-Research.