Abstract
In a previous study we showed that broods from the viviparous eelpout Zoarces viviparus were significantly male biased in 1998 in the vicinity of a large kraft pulp mill on the Swedish Baltic coast. One suggested hypothesis was that masculinizing compounds in the effluent were affecting gonadal differentiation of the embryos, resulting in skewed sex ratios. In this article, we present further evidence for a causal relationship between the exposure to the effluent and the male-biased sex ratios. Analyses of historical samples showed that the eelpout produced male-biased broods close to the mill in 1997 in addition to 1998. During 1999, the mill was shut down for 17 days, coinciding with the period when the gonads of the eelpout embryos differentiate. Subsequently, in the fall of 1999, the sex ratios were no longer male biased; however, the following year (2000), a significant male bias reappeared. Investigations at 13 sites for up to 4 years showed a relatively stable sex ratio around 50/50, with the exceptions by the mill and with few observations of deviating ratios at other sites. Several reports document endocrine disturbances in fish near pulp and paper mills, including the expression of male secondary sex characters in female fish. The repeatedly identified male bias at the investigated mill, the normalization after mill shutdown, and the reappearance the following year indicate that pulp mill effluents also can affect sex ratios of nearby fish.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (496.1 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cody R. P., Bortone S. A. Masculinization of mosquitofish as an indicator of exposure to kraft mill effluent. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 1997 Mar;58(3):429–436. doi: 10.1007/s001289900352. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Drysdale D. T., Bortone S. A. Laboratory induction of intersexuality in the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, using paper mill effluent. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 1989 Oct;43(4):611–617. doi: 10.1007/BF01701943. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fox G. A. Practical causal inference for ecoepidemiologists. J Toxicol Environ Health. 1991 Aug;33(4):359–373. doi: 10.1080/15287399109531535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Förlin L., Andersson T., Balk L., Larsson A. Biochemical and physiological effects in fish exposed to bleached kraft mill effluents. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 1995 Mar;30(2):164–170. doi: 10.1006/eesa.1995.1021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jenkins R., Angus R. A., McNatt H., Howell W. M., Kemppainen J. A., Kirk M., Wilson E. M. Identification of androstenedione in a river containing paper mill effluent. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2001 Jun;20(6):1325–1331. doi: 10.1897/1551-5028(2001)020<1325:ioaiar>2.0.co;2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kovacs T. G., Gibbons J. S., Tremblay L. A., O'Connor B. I., Martel P. H., Voss R. H. The effects of a secondary-treated bleached kraft mill effluent on aquatic organisms as assessed by short-term and long-term laboratory tests. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 1995 Jun;31(1):7–22. doi: 10.1006/eesa.1995.1038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Landner L., Grahn O., Härdig J., Lehtinen K. J., Monfelt C., Tana J. A field study of environmental impacts at a bleached kraft pulp mill site on the Baltic Sea coast. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 1994 Mar;27(2):128–157. doi: 10.1006/eesa.1994.1012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsson D. G. Joakim, Mayer Ian, Hyllner Sven Johan, Förlin Lars. Seasonal variations of vitelline envelope proteins, vitellogenin, and sex steroids in male and female eelpout (Zoarces viviparus). Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2002 Feb 1;125(2):184–196. doi: 10.1006/gcen.2001.7740. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parks L. G., Lambright C. S., Orlando E. F., Guillette L. J., Jr, Ankley G. T., Gray L. E., Jr Masculinization of female mosquitofish in Kraft mill effluent-contaminated Fenholloway River water is associated with androgen receptor agonist activity. Toxicol Sci. 2001 Aug;62(2):257–267. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/62.2.257. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ronisz D., Larsson D. G., Förlin L. Seasonal variations in the activities of selected hepatic biotransformation and antioxidant enzymes in eelpout (Zoarces viviparus). Comp Biochem Physiol C Pharmacol Toxicol Endocrinol. 1999 Nov;124(3):271–279. doi: 10.1016/s0742-8413(99)00074-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van der Kraak G. J., Munkittrick K. R., McMaster M. E., Portt C. B., Chang J. P. Exposure to bleached kraft pulp mill effluent disrupts the pituitary-gonadal axis of white sucker at multiple sites. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1992 Aug;115(2):224–233. doi: 10.1016/0041-008x(92)90327-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]