Altered Reproduction in Fish Exposed to Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents: Roles of Individual Compounds and Mill Operating Conditions-Critical Review (original) (raw)
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Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 2016
The authors examined the potential of pulp mill effluent from pulp-producing countries (Canada, Brazil, New Zealand) to affect fish reproduction. Specifically, the estrogenic effects in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) pulse-exposed to 11 different mill effluent extracts (intraperitoneal injections of solid-phase extraction-dichloromethane nonpolar fraction). The results indicated that effluent extracts were estrogenic in juvenile trout irrespective of the gender, as reflected by increasing level of plasma vitellogenin (VTG; Brazil > New Zealand > Canada). Despite the high variability observed among mills, differences in VTG levels were related to the type of mill process (kraft > elementary chlorine-free kraft > thermomechanical pulping). Moreover, effluent treatments did not appear to significantly decrease VTG induction. A consistent estrogenic effect was observed in those mills that process a combination of feedstocks (softwood and hardwood), with the hig...
Environmental science & technology, 2012
This study investigates factors affecting reproduction in fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents by comparing effluents from countries with varying levels of documented effects. To explore the hypothesis of wood as a common source of endocrine disrupting compounds, feedstocks from each country were analyzed. Analyses included in vitro assays for androgenic activity (binding to goldfish testis androgen receptors), estrogenic activity (yeast estrogen screen), and neurotransmitter enzyme inhibition (monoamine oxidase and glutamic acid decarboxylase). Chemical analyses included conventional extractives, known androgens, and gas chromatograph index (GCI) profiles. All effluents and wood contained androgenic activity, particularly in nonpolar fractions, although known androgens were undetected. Effluents with low suspended solids, having undergone conventional biotreatment had lower androgenic activities. Estrogenic activity was only associated with Brazilian effluents and undetected in wood. All effluents and wood inhibited neurotransmitter enzymes, predominantly in polar fractions. Kraft elemental chlorine free mills were associated with the greatest neurotransmitter inhibition. Effluent and wood GCI profiles were correlated with androgenic activity and neurotransmitter enzyme inhibition. Differences in feedstock bioactivities were not reflected in effluents, implying mill factors mitigate bioactive wood components. No differences in bioactivities could be discerned on the basis of country of origin, thus we predict effluents in regions lacking monitoring would affect fish reproduction and therefore recommend implementing such programs.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2009
Endocrine disruption (ED) effects due to pulp and paper mill effluents extracts involving different industrial procedures and effluent treatments (nontreated, primary, and secondary treated) were evaluated using immature triploid rainbow trout in a pulse-exposure toxicity experiment. The protocol involved the use of intraperitoneal injection of mill extracts (solid-phase extraction [SPE]) corrected for individual fish weight and included several laboratory standards (steroidal hormones and phytosterols). Biological endpoints at two different levels of biological organization were analyzed (molecular and individual organism). Results indicated that nonsignificant changes were observed in the individual physiological indices represented by condition factor, liver somatic index, and gonad somatic index during the experiment. Significant induction of liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity was observed between different effluent treatments and experimental controls. Significant endocrine-disrupting effects at the reproductive level were observed in all effluent treatments involving significant increments in plasma vitellogenin (VTG) levels. Fish exposed to untreated effluent extracts had significantly higher VTG levels compared to fish exposed to primary and secondary treatment effluent extracts, indicating a decrease of the estrogenic effect due to the effluent treatment. The present study has shown that for the Chilean pulp and paper mill SPE extracts evaluated, an endocrine disruption effect was induced in immature triploid rainbow, reaffirming the significant estrogenic effects demonstrated previously in laboratory and field experiments.
Under the Canadian Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) program for pulp and paper effluents, the observation of a national response pattern of decreased gonad size and increased fish condition and liver size has triggered a centralized multiagency investigation of cause (IOC) of reproductive impacts in fishes. The purpose of the component of the IOC study presented here is to compare a number of fish bioassays for determining reproductive and reproductive-endocrine effects of a bleached kraft mill effluent. The bleached kraft mill chosen for this study had demonstrated the national response pattern in previous EEM cycles. The bioassays employed to examine reproduction were fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) 5- and 21-d, mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) 25-d, and zebrafish (Danio rerio) 7-d tests, all of which had egg production as the primary reproductive endpoint. Additional bioassays examining reproductive-endocrine endpoints included a 7-d mummichog test, a 7- and a 21-d threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) test, a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) 7-d test, and in vitro sex steroid receptor and plasma protein binding bioassays. The zebrafish and fathead minnow reproductive tests showed significant suppression of egg production at the 100% effluent concentration. Endocrine data derived from the tests showed that this effluent did not impact steroidogenic endpoints at any concentration. Bioassays showed that this effluent i) was capable of eliciting cytochrome P4501A induction at as low as 10% vol/vol effluent, ii) was weakly androgenic at 10% vol/vol, and iii) showed no evidence of in vivo estrogenicity. These results were consistent with in vitro receptor binding assays showing a highly variable level of androgenic equivalents over six months of effluent testing, with little evidence of estrogenic activity. Bioassay results were consistent in that the overall conclusion was that this effluent has only a weak potential to cause reproductive impairment and would likely not do so at environmentally relevant concentrations. Field studies and a fathead minnow lifecycle study conducted concurrently were in agreement with reproductive bioassay results as white sucker exposed in the receiving environment no longer had significantly reduced gonadal development. Overall, this study provided evidence that the laboratory assays evaluated for various reproductive endpoints have potential application for future IOC work.
Since 1997, a number of approaches (artificial stream exposures, lab bioassays) have been used to identify waste-stream sources of contaminants at the Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. (IPP) mill, in Saint John, Canada. These studies have shown that chemical recovery condensates have the greatest potential for reducing circulating and gonadal steroids in mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), an endemic fish species. A solid phase extraction technique was developed to isolate the hormonally-active substances from the condensates, and a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) approach was used to gain a better understanding of the chemical characteristics of the active substances. The extract was fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography and the fractions were used in a seven-day bioassay. Mummichog were exposed in static aquaria with daily renewal to either the whole condensate extract, or one of the six fractions at 1 % v/v. Steroid reductions in recent exposures were not as pronounced as had been observed during studies which investigated the overall potency of the extract at the same concentration. As well, differences in responses were observed between the sexes. A dose-response experiment indicated that greater steroid reductions are elicited at 4% v/v in male mummichog. Therefore, the TIE was continued at 4%v/v, however, no steroid reductions were observed in any of the fractions. Some fractions induced increases in plasma testosterone, which had never been observed previously. Ongoing work is focusing on developing an understanding of the extent to which variability in the fish responses are linked to reproductive state and differences in responses between the sexes, while additional work is concentrating on variability in condensate constituents and the fractionation protocol.
Reproductive steroid responses in fish exposed to pulp mill condensates
2006
Since 1997, a number of approaches (artificial stream exposures, lab bioassays) have been used to identify waste-stream sources of contaminants at the Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. (IPP) mill, in Saint John, Canada. These studies have shown that chemical recovery condensates have the greatest potential for reducing circulating and gonadal steroids in mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), an endemic fish species. A solid phase extraction technique was developed to isolate the hormonally-active substances from the condensates, and a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) approach was used to gain a better understanding of the chemical characteristics of the active substances. The extract was fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography and the fractions were used in a seven-day bioassay. Mummichog were exposed in static aquaria with daily renewal to either the whole condensate extract, or one of the six fractions at 1 % v/v. Steroid reductions in recent exposures were not as pronounced as had been observed during studies which investigated the overall potency of the extract at the same concentration. As well, differences in responses were observed between the sexes. A dose-response experiment indicated that greater steroid reductions are elicited at 4% v/v in male mummichog. Therefore, the TIE was continued at 4%v/v, however, no steroid reductions were observed in any of the fractions. Some fractions induced increases in plasma testosterone, which had never been observed previously. Ongoing work is focusing on developing an understanding of the extent to which variability in the fish responses are linked to reproductive state and differences in responses between the sexes, while additional work is concentrating on variability in condensate constituents and the fractionation protocol.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1994
Fish collected from the receiving areas of 12 Canadian pulp mills were examined, including sites receiving effluent from kraft mills using chlorine as well as sulfite mills. Field collections included sampling of receiving water for chemistry and toxicity testing, and sampling of local fish for organ weights, hepatic MFO (ethoxyresorufin-0-deethylase, EROD) activity, plasma steroid levels, and levels of liver dioxins. The main objectives of this study were to determine whether the discharge of effluent from pulp mills to sites other than Jackfish Bay was associated with physiological or biochemical disruptions in wild fish, whether there was any correlation between waste treatment and the presence of biological responses in wild fish, and whether there was any association between the use of chlorine as a bleaching agent and these responses. Although white sucker collected near bleachedkraft mills exhibited the highest EROD induction and dioxin levels, elevated enzyme activity was observed in fish from sites that did not use chlorine, and depressions in plasma sex steroid levels was not correlated with the level of EROD activity. The absence of chlorine bleaching or the presence of secondary treatment did not eliminate responses in fish, including decreascd circulating levels of sex steroids, decreased gonadal size, and increased liver size. This survey has shown that (a) induction of hepatic EROD enzymes and depressions of plasma sex steroid levels during gonadal growth are found downstream of several pulp mills; (b) these changes are seen at some mills without chlorine bleaching and at mills that have secondary treatment; (c) substantial dilutions of nontoxic effluent do not appear to remove these responses; (d) the dominant factor determining the presence or absence of responses appeared to be dilution level; and (e) lab toxicity tests on invertebrates, rainbow trout, and fathead minnows could not predict the presence of these responses in wild fish.