Very low embryonic crude oil exposures cause lasting cardiac defects in salmon and herring.
The 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster exposed embryos of pink salmon and Pacific herring to crude oil in shoreline spawning habitats throughout Prince William Sound, Alaska. The herring fishery collapsed four years later. The role of the spill, if any, in this decline remains one of the most controversial unanswered questions in modern natural resource injury assessment. Crude oil disrupts excitation-contraction coupling in fish heart muscle cells, and we show here that salmon and herring exposed as embryos to trace levels of crude oil grow into juveniles with abnormal hearts and reduced cardiorespiratory function, the latter a key determinant of individual survival and population recruitment. Oil exposure during cardiogenesis led to specific defects in the outflow tract and compact myocardium, and a hypertrophic response in spongy myocardium, evident in juveniles 7 to 9 months after exposure. The thresholds for developmental cardiotoxicity were remarkably low, suggesting the scale of the Exxon Valdez impact in shoreline spawning habitats was much greater than previously appreciated. Moreover, an irreversible loss of cardiac fitness and consequent increases in delayed mortality in oil-exposed cohorts may have been important contributors to the delayed decline of pink salmon and herring stocks in Prince William Sound.
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
John P
JP
Incardona
Habitat Assessment and Marine Chemistry Program, Auke Bay Laboratories, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 17109 Pt. Lena Loop Rd., Juneau, AK 99801.
Mark G
MG
Carls
Habitat Assessment and Marine Chemistry Program, Auke Bay Laboratories, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 17109 Pt. Lena Loop Rd., Juneau, AK 99801.
Larry
L
Holland
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Tiffany L
TL
Linbo
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
David H
DH
Baldwin
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Mark S
MS
Myers
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Karen A
KA
Peck
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Mark
M
Tagal
Habitat Assessment and Marine Chemistry Program, Auke Bay Laboratories, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 17109 Pt. Lena Loop Rd., Juneau, AK 99801.
Stanley D
SD
Rice
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Nathaniel L
NL
Scholz
D000413:Alaska; D000818:Animals; D066126:Cardiotoxicity; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005399:Fishes; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000209:etiology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010578:Petroleum / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012474:Salmon
D010578:Petroleum