Current status of PCB toxicity to mink, and effect on their reproduction

Abstract

Experiments were conducted from 1968 to 1974 to investigate reproductive complications and mortality in mink fed Great Lakes coho salmon and to ascertain the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) on this fur bearer. The results of mink feeding trials indicated that coho salmon, as such, were not responsible for the loss of reproduction in the adult, or the kit mortality. Mink diets that contained other species of Great Lakes fish caused similar reproductive complications, but to a lesser degree. Rancidity, mercury poisoning and chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide contamination of the fish were all discounted as being responsible for the problem. The clinical signs and lesions noted in mink that died while receiving diets that contained Lake Michigan coho salmon were very similar to those observed in mink fed on rations that contained supplemental PCB's. These included anorexia, blood stools, fatty liver, kidney degeneration, and hemorrhagic gastric ulcers. Analyses of tissues from mink that died when fed 30% Lake Michigan coho salmon or 30 ppm supplemental PCB diets showed similar PCB residues. PCB toxicity experiments revealed that mink are very sensitive to these compounds and that the lethal dose varied inversely with the chlorine content of the PCB's although only Aroclor 1254 exerted a detrimental effect on reproduction when fed at a low level (2 ppm) for 8 months. The reproductive failure encountered in feeding mink Lake Michigan coho salmon and Aroclor 1254 was shown to be of a non-permanent nature.

Persistence of organochlorine chemical residues in fish from the Tombigbee River (Alabama, USA): Continuing risk to wildlife from a former DDT manufacturing facility

“…Wildlife toxicity values focused on avian receptors because birds are known to be particularly sensitive to DDT isomers, hexachlorobenzene, and PCBs. A PCB toxicity value for American mink (Mustela vison) was also included because this species is sensitive to PCB exposure (Aulerich and Ringer, 1977).…”

Environmental contaminants in freshwater fish and their risk to piscivorous wildlife based on a national monitoring program

“…Piscivorous wildlife may be at risk from a contaminant if the measured concentration in the fish composite sample exceeds the NEHC. Risk (Aulerich and Ringer 1977;Heaton et al 1995), and mercury has been implicated in increased mink mortality (Wren et al 1987). Bald eagle survival and reproduction have been negatively affected by dieldrin, p,p′-DDE, and PCBs in the environment (Reichel et al 1984;Wiemeyer et al 1984).…”

“…The toxicity of PCBs to mink, bald eagles, and other organisms is largely attributable to relatively few congeners, specifically the highly toxic non-ortho-and mono-ortho-chloro substituted compounds that can assume a planar molecular configuration (Aulerich and Ringer 1977;Peterson et al 1993;Tillitt et al 1996). These compounds are structurally similar to 2,3,7, and are among the compounds collectively known as planar halogenated hydrocarbons (PHHs).…”

Peer Reviewed: Wildlife Toxicology Revisited

“…For example, Aulerich and Ringer used PCB-laden fish to evaluate lethality and reproductive impairment of mink that had begun to decline around the Great Lakes in the late 1960s and early 1970s (8). However, to generate statistically meaningful data sets in light of inherent variability of wildlife species, many of the early wildlife toxicity studies ironically resulted in the overkill of both laboratory animals and wildlife.…”