High PCB Levels Research Articles

Monitoring of pollutants in Dutch fishery products

A description is given of the monitoring programme on pollutants in Dutch fishery products of the Netherlands' Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The pollutants being monitored are organic and inorganic micropollutants and radioactive compounds. The only problems so far about the consumability of Dutch fishery products are the high levels of PCB in eel from the Rhine and Meuse. Mercury levels in fishery products from the inland waters decreased markedly since 1975.

Heavy metals and organochlorine compounds in seals in the Gulf of Finland

The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Se, Hg, DDT, DDD, DDE, the PCBs and the chlordane components have been determined in the muscle, liver, kidney and blubber of the grey seal, Halichoerus grypus and the Baltic ringed seal Phoca hispida botnica of different ages caught in the Gulf of Finland. The results are related to the age and, for the organochlorine compounds, to the lipid content, of the specimens. Se and Hg were found to be correlated strongly with age. The heavy metal concentrations were highest in the liver, except for Cd, which was highest in the kidney. The mean concentrations of PCB and DDT compounds in blubber were varied and those for yearling seals were considerably lower thun those for older seals, but, even so, the levels were high from the biological point of view. Some comparisons with the results of earlier studies on seals in the Gulf of Finland and the Bothnian Bay are made and a short account of research into the seal uterus in relation to the high levels of PCB is given.

Areas of Localized Organochlorine Contamination in Arizona and New Mexico

Wings from mallard ducks harvested in 1980 in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico were pooled into county aggregates and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides and PCB's. Organochlorine concentrations in duck wings were compared among counties comprising major river drainages within each state. DDE concentrations in the wings of mallards collected from the Verde River and the lower portion of the Gila River drainages in Arizona ranged up to 6 ppm (wet weight basis), which was 17 times higher than the 1979 Pacific Flyway average. DDE at these high levels may be hazardous to wildlife. In combination with other published data, our findings indicate a serious DDT problem in portions of the Verde River and Gila River drainages. High levels of heptachlor (up to 1.7 ppm) and PCB's (3.7 ppm, 61 times the 1979 Central Flyway average) were found in mallard wings from the upper Rio Grande and Pecos River drainages, respectively. We did not detect areas of heavy local organochlorine pesticide or PCB contamination in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Lack of mutagenicity of methanogenic digester effluent in the Salmonella/microsome test.

Kaplan Industries (Bartow, FL) has inititated a large-scale waste utilization program to dispose 500 tons/day of manure from a 20,000 head cattle feed lot. About 30% of the solid material in the manure is separated and recycled as an organic fertilizer. The liquid portion, with some suspended solids, is transferred to methane digesters. Methanogenic digester effluent is centrifuged to yield a 25% protein product that can be used as an animal feed supplement; the liquid effluent is used for agricultural irrigation. Studies on the use of municipal sewage sludge as fertilizer on farmlands have demonstrated that high levels of PCB's have been found in crops grown on PCB-contaminated sludge-amended soils. Since similar reaction products, or their metabolites may be produced from heavy metals, pesticide residues, antibiotics or residues from feed present in animal manure during anaerobic conversion of this biomass to methane, better assessment of the potential hazard of digester effluent is needed. The Ames Salmonella/microsome assay for mutagenicity has been widely applied in in vitro tests for potential carcinogenicity and mutagenicity of environmental chemicals or mixtures. In this study they used the three most sensitive strains of Salmonella typhimurium, i.e., TA 97, TA 98 and TA 100, to evaluatemore » the possible presence of genotoxic compounds in the methanogenic digester effluent.« less

Incidence and levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in Lake Ontario commercial fish

Analysis of commercial fish taken in 1980 mostly from one area of Lake Ontario was undertaken to obtain information on the levels and incidence of the contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Sixty-two (62) samples of fish comprising 10 different species were analyzed by using a validated extraction, cleanup, and detection procedure. Seven of the 10 species contained measurable levels of the isomer, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, between 2 and 39 parts per trillion (ppt) with five samples above 20 ppt. Channel catfish, American eel, and rainbow smelt had the highest values, and the lowest levels were found in rock bass, black crappie, and pumpkinseed. The presence of high levels of PCB (> 1 ppm) and a high lipid content (> 3 %) indicated a high probability of dioxin contamination. Comparison of this data with those generated by other laboratories from all the Great Lakes indicated that the larger species of commercial fish such as channel catfish and carp particularly from Lake Ontario and part of Lake Huron have the highest levels and incidence of 2,3,7,8-TCDD.

Storage of some organochlorine compounds in toxemia of pregnancy

Nine out of 18 cases of toxemia of pregnancy had high PCB serum levels in comparison with a control group of 12 women with normal pregnancies. Seven out of the nine high PCB levels cases were multiparae. These findings suggest a role of PCBs in the promotion of toxemia of pregnancy, possibly by depressing the maternal immunological response to fetal antigens. The pattern of the gas chromatogram of PCBs differed in the control and in the low PCB levels toxemia groups, due possibly to differences in some hormonal and/or enzymatic activities. In the high PCB levels toxemia cases, the chromatograms showed high peaks at 8. This fact adds to the quantitative dimension a qualitative one. The DDT DDE ratios were lowest in the high PCB levels toxemia group suggesting an increased degradation of DDT to DDE and/or a decreased excretion of DDE.

Habitat, Female Age, Organo-Chlorine Compounds and Breeding of European Sparrowhawks

(1) This paper examines associations between habitat, female age, organochlorine levels in eggs and breeding performance of Accipiter nisus in Annandale, south Scotland. (2) Breeding was better on low mixed farmland (on productive ground) than on upland sheep range or plantation forest (on less productive ground). This was shown by the earlier laying dates on farmland, larger brood sizes, faster growth of young, and by the greater proportion of nests that were successful. (3) Although sparrowhawks were restricted to woods for nesting, some aspects of their breeding performance deteriorated with increase in the extent of woodland around the nesting territory. This trend held both in low farmland and in the area as a whole, and was probably due more to the increase in woodland as such, than to the associated increase in breeding density. Prey densities were greater in small woods in open country than in continuous forest. (4) Territories in larch and pine were used most often, followed in order by those in spruce and broadleaved trees. Breeding performance was generally better in the favoured trees, but only for laying dates were these differences significant. The proportion of nests that produced young also rose with increasing amount of tree cover on the territory; this was partly due to lessened predation in the thicker territories. (5) There were fewer adult-yearling, and more yearling-yearling and adult-adult matings than expected if mating were random with respect to age. Yearling females had smaller clutches and broods than older ones, and in farmland their young grew less quickly and their nests were less often successful. (6) The failure of certain nests throughout the population was associated with high levels of DDE and PCB in eggs. The amount of shell thinning and egg-breakage was highly correlated with DDE concentrations. (7) Different aspects of breeding performance were most closely related with different factors. The frequency with which territories were used for breeding attempts was more closely linked with tree-species than with any other factor; laying dates and nestling growth rates were associated most strongly with surrounding landuse and productivity; sizes of clutches and broods were related most closely to age of female; while success or failure of the nest was associated both with habitat factors (especially thickness of cover on territories) and with organo-chlorine levels in eggs and with the extent of shell-thinning.

Comparative Uptake of a Polychlorinated Biphenyl and Dieldrin by the White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni)

White suckers (Catostomus commersoni) accumulated the PCB Aroclor® 1232 and dieldrin from water at approximately the same rate. However, they accumulated higher PCB levels than dieldrin levels when exposed to equivalent concentrations of these substances. The uptake pattern of Aroclor 1232 components on a whole fish basis and in gill and intestinal tissue was similar to Aroclor 1232 components to which the fish were exposed. The presence of additional components having short chromatographic retention times was observed in liver, brain, and kidney tissues in fish exposed only to Aroclor 1232.