title: Trends of persistent organic pollutants in American eel (Anguilla rostrata) from eastern Lake Ontario, Canada, and their potential effects on recruitment.
abstract: This study reports the history of contamination of American eels (Anguilla rostrata) from eastern Lake Ontario (LO) by persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Three groups of 10 large female eels captured in eastern LO in each of 1988, 1998, and 2008 were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, several organochlorine pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Mean concentrations were up to 3-fold lower in 2008 compared to previous years. When combined with the results of previous studies, these data show that concentrations of POPs in American eels have declined exponentially since the early 1980s by an average of 9.1±1.9% per year. Toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentrations of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) were calculated from fish toxic equivalency factors. Assuming an efficient transfer of DLCs to their eggs, egg TEQs prior to 2000 exceeded the threshold for chronic toxicity to embryos of European eels (Anguilla anguilla) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) (4-5 pg/g ww of TEQ). These results suggest that embryotoxicity of maternally-derived DLCs from LO eels, historically a major contributor to the spawning stock of American eels, could have impaired the reproductive and recruitment success of the species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Canada; Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Burlington L7R 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Byer
authors.affiliation: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli G5H 3Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lebeuf
authors.affiliation: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli G5H 3Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trottier
authors.affiliation: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli G5H 3Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Meriem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raach
authors.affiliation: Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Burlington L7R 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alaee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stephen Brown
authors.affiliation: Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Burlington L7R 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Backus
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Canada.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Casselman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Canada; School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Canada. Electronic address: peter.hodson@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Peter V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Hodson
mesh_terms: D000811:Anguilla / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004147:Dioxins / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000378:metabolism; D060106:Lakes; D009864:Ontario; D010575:Pesticides / Q000378:metabolism; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; C020887:dibenzo(1,4)dioxin
keywords: American eel (Anguilla rostrata); Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); Recruitment failure; Risk assessment; Temporal trends; Toxic equivalence