Health and Reproductive Implications of Exposure of Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasi) Adults and Eggs to Weathered Crude Oil, and Reproductive Condition of Herring Stock in Prince William Sound Six Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Résumé du livre

Herring spawned in Prince William Sound a few weeks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: all life stages were potentially exposed. In 1993. the herring population in Prince William Sound collapsed, suggesting possible reproductive impairment. Reproductive condition of herring in Prince William Sound was assessed in 1995: adult herring and eggs were also experimentally exposed to oil. In laboratory tests, pre-spawn herring were negatively impacted byexposure to oil, principally the suppression of the immune system and increased expression of disease. Induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase, suppression of leukocytes, increased prevalence of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus, and mortality were correlated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon concentration. However, exposure of adult herring causcd negligible damage in progeny at high concentrations (58 ppb aqueous polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon). In contrast, exposure of incubating eggs to comparably weathered oil caused significant morphological defects at 9 ppb and effects of more weathered oil were significant at concentrations as low as 0.2 ppb polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons: chromosomal aberrations were observed at 0.7 ppb. Most Iarvae with genetic defects would likely die due to concomitant morphological abnormalities. There was no evidence of oil-related reproductive impairment in Prince William Sound herring six years after the spill.