M1 AM Delaware River/Bay
Monday, 14 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Ballroom 1

(PIN-1117-201365) Tumor Prevalence in Mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) from the Delaware Estuary Watershed.

Pinkney, A¹, Harshbarger, J², ¹ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Annapolis, MD, USA² George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

ABSTRACT- We collected mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus, > 70 mm total length, n = 21-30 per location) from four areas within the Delaware Estuary watershed in 2002-2004. We performed necropsies and examined histopathologically livers and raised skin lesions for tumors and preneoplastic lesions. For the Christina River subwatershed (Area 1), one location in Hershey Run (adjacent to a Superfund site that released creosote) was sampled in 2002 and 2003. Two locations were sampled, in 2003, in the restored Newport Marsh. In Area 2, the effluent channel of the Motiva oil refinery on the Delaware River was sampled in 2004. In Area 3, the St. Jones River, one location near the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve (DNERR) was sampled in 2003. In Area 4, Blackbird Creek, one location near a second DNERR was sampled in 2003. No skin tumors were diagnosed in any fish, and no liver tumors were diagnosed in the St. Jones, Motiva, Newport Marsh Upriver, or Newport Marsh Downriver collections. One of 30 Blackbird Creek fish had a liver with foci of hepatocellular alteration (FHA, a preneoplastic lesion) and one had a hepatocellular carcinoma (HC). HC prevalence was dramatically higher in Hershey Run mummichogs in 2002 (7 of 21, 33%) and 2003 (3 of 29, 10%) compared to the other locations. In 2002, 5 of 21 (24%) Hershey Run mummichogs had livers with FHA whereas, in 2003, only 1 of 29 (3%) had FHA. The prevalence of HC and FHA was significantly higher in the Hershey Run mummichogs (2002 and 2003 collections pooled) compared with the other collections (Fisher Exact Test, p = 0.001 for FHA, p<0.001 for HC). By far the highest sediment total PAH concentration (13,300 ppm) was detected in Hershey Run. We conclude that preneoplastic lesions and tumors in mummichog livers were associated with creosote-contaminated sediments.

Key words: tumors, PAHs, Fundulus heteroclitus, biomarkers