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4. How Toxic Chemicals Affect Fish TOXIC CHEMICALS INTHE GREAT LAKES AND ASSOCIATED EFFECTS VOLUME II EFFECTS March 1991 ENVIRONMENT CANADA DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS HEALTH AND WELFARE CANADA This report Is pdnted on recycled paper contalnlng contaln a vegetable oll base reduclng the toxic solvent content. A varnlsh coating has been applied to the cover to protect It dudng use. Disponible en francais sur demande. 8Minlster of Supply and Servlces Canada 1991 Cat. No. En 37-95/1990-1E ISBN 0-662- 18317-7 TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I Contaminant Levels and Trends Authors and contributors ........................................ v Introduction ................................................... vii Part 1, Concentrations of contaminants in water and sediments ..... 1 2. Concentrations of contaminants inaquatic biota............ 143 3. Concentrations of contaminants in wildlife species.......... .309 4. Concentrations of contaminants in humans ................,393 Appendix ......................................................... VOLUME II Effects Authors and contributors ........................................ v Introduction ...................................................vii Part 1. Effects of contaminants onaquatic biota ...................493 2. Effects of contaminants on wildlife species................. ,553 3. Effects of contaminants on human health ................. .639 4.Synthesis ...............................................743 Appendix ,,,.,.,........................,...............,......755 AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS The Steering Committee extends thanks to the primary authors and the contributors to thetwo volumes of this report. We would also like to thank thosewho participated in the review process.Those individuals are acknowledged at the end of each partof the report. Authors R.J. Allan National Water Research Institute Environment Canada A.J. Ball National Water Research Institute Environment Canada V.W. Cairns Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Department of Fisheries & Oceans G.A. Fox Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada A. P. Gilman Environmental Health Directorate Health and Welfare Canada D.B. Peakall Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada D .A. Piekarz Great Lakes Environment Office Environment Canada J.C. Van Oostdam Environmental Health Directorate Health and Welfare Canada D. C. Villeneuve Environmental Health Directorate Health and Welfare Canada D.T. Williams Environmental Health Directorate Health and Welfare Canada V Contributors C. Bishop Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada R. W. Brecher Eco Logic, Inc. W.D. Clements Eco Logic, Inc. J. Chouinard Consultant T.E. Colborn World Wildlife Fund The Conservation Foundation Washington, D.C. J.M. Cooley Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Department of Fisheries and Oceans K. Davies Ecosystems Consulting Inc. S. Kennedy Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada K.L. Maus Environmental Health Directorate Health and Welfare Canada R.J. Norstrom Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada D.V. Weseloh Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada D.M. Whittle Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Department of Fisheries and Oceans The working group would like to thank Mr. Oliver Tsai and Mr. Carl Stieren for word processing these two volumes. vi INTRODUCTION The increasedcommercial production and widespread use of synthetic toxic chemicals and metals since the1940s have resulted in the contamina- tion of the environment. While the presence of persistent toxic chemicals in the GreatLakes has been known for some time, concerns have beendirected in recent yearstowards the environmental and human healtheffects of these chemicals. During the past two and a half years, Environment Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Health and Welfare Canada have worked together to compile the scientific literature on thelevels, trends and effects of persistent toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes basin. This has resulted in a two volume technical document entitledToxic Chemicalsin the Great Lakes and Associated Eflects. Volume I of this report is divided into four parts. It summarizes data on the concentrations of toxic chemicals in water and sediments, invertebrates and fish,wildlife, and humans. Volume I1 also contains four parts. It reviews what is known about the effects of persistent toxic chemicals on fish, wildlife and people andpresents a concluding synthesis which interprets the significance of the levels and effects information in the two volumes. Each part of the report begins with an executive summary. Based on our knowledge of chemicals and their toxicology, a pattern is emerging that suggests that persistentchemicals inthe environment have a significant effect on fish and wildlife species. We still know very little about the effects of a person’s lifetime exposure to toxic organic chemicals and metals. Despite some uncertainties, it is clear that toxic chemicals are a threat to the entire ecosystem. As a result, the principle of “virtual elimin- ation” of persistent toxic substances from the lakeshas been adopted inthe Canada-US GreatLakes WaterQuality Agreement. The national governments of both countriestogether with the province of Ontario, the eight Great Lake states and the large municipalities are moving towards this goal using the regulatory processes, pollution prevention strategies and public education. In the meantime, government programs continueto monitor the healthof the ecosystem, assess the extentto which it is impaired by toxic chemicals and develop means to reduce the impact of exposures. vi i TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE GREAT LAKES AND ASSOCIATED EFFECTS VOLUME II PART 1 EFFECTS OF CONTAMINANTS ON AQUATIC BIOTA TheGreat Lakes fishery has changeddramatically since 1900. Commercial catches of historically important species such as lake trout, whitefish, herring, .bluepike and ciscoes have declined due to thecombined effects of competition, exploitation, eutrophication andhabitat destruction. In most of the GreatLakes, the commercial fishery for highly valued species has been replaced by smelt, chub,eels, yellow perch, white bass, bullhead, and suckers. To reverse these trends, fisheries agencies implemented fish stocking programs, sea lamprey control, habitat conservation and quota management. In addition, water qualitylegislation was introduced to reduce inputs of phosphorus and persistenttoxic chemicals that accumulate infish flesh. The result of these actionshas been a dramatic improvement in water quality and indicationsof a recovering fishery. Although there is good evidence that some stocks arerecovering, all is not well with the fishery. Important commercial species such as the lake trout have not recovered in any of the Great Lakes. Fish community composition andabundance have declined nearurban areas due to extensive habitat loss, eutrophication, and the acute and sub-lethaleffects of chemical contamination.Some bottom-dwelling species suchas the brown bullhead and white sucker develop liver tumours. The specific causes are unknown but there is strong circumstantialevidence that tumour frequency increases at sites contaminatedwith known carcinogens. Export markets for Lake Ontario eels remain closed due to high concentrations of PCBs and mirex and consumptionadvisories exist for at least one specieson all of the Great Lakes. Not surprisingly, the long-lived fish such as laketrout accumulatethe highest body burdens of contaminants. Consumption advisories for lake trout andchinook salmon are ineffect at every location on Lake Ontario where these specieswere tested. Toxic chemicals affect fish at the molecular, cellular, individual, population, and community levels. Contaminant effects at the community and population levels are difficult to separate from the combined effects of overfishing, habitat destruction, eutrophication and the introductionof exotic species. Communityeffects are rarely associatedwith a specific contaminant and are characterized by a reduction in the diversity of species. Sensitive species are eliminated and contaminant tolerant species increase.Most ofthe 495 contaminant effects at the community level have been reportedfor plankton and benthos. There are somecases, such as the recruitment failureof Lake Michigan lake trout, where chemicals are implicated in population failure. However, it has not beenpossible to separateresponsible chemicalsfrom the complex suite of chemical and biological stressors in the GreatLakes. The evidence for contaminant effects on fish becomes more convincing at the individual and cellular levels. The relationship between contaminants (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons)and tumourfrequency is reinforced by observations of increased liverenzyme activity needed tobreak down contaminants and the presence of carcinogenic metabolites in the bile of exposed fish. The chemical linkis further strengthened by laboratory studies showing that fish exposed tochemicals extracted from contaminated sediment develop liver tumours. Additional laboratory evidence shows that fish exposed to thesechemicals in the field and in the laboratory develop DNA adducts, a step in the process of carcinogenesis. Other pathological indicators of stress that have beenmonitored in the Great Lakes include fin ray asymmetry,vertebral anomalies. thyroid hyperplasia and benign epithelial papillomas. Several tests have beenused successfully to demonstratethe effects of chemical exposure at the cellular level. These includethe inductionof mixed function oxidase
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