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2N (2) - Field studies (TU6/12) Linkage between accumulation and effects of alkylphenols to male breams (Abramis brama) sampled by standardized methods. Klein, Roland1, Bartel, Martina1, Quack, Markus 1, 1 University of Trier, Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz ABSTRACT- There were some evidence by a former study that estrogenic chemical substances like alkylphenols could effect fishes in the small river Saar of Southwestern Germany because very high concentrations of 4NP and 4NP1EO were found in breams compared to those from other sampling sites of the German Environmental Specimen Bank including further rivers (Elbe, Rhine, Mulde, Saale) and the lake of Belau. The relationship between accumulation and effect was studied in the presented investigation using Hepatosomatic Index (HSI) and Vitellogenin (Vtg) as possible indicators of estrogenic effects and measuring the concentration of some alkylphenols accumulated in breams caught at six sampling sites in the river Saar and at one in the river Mosel. To link these results with the former ones great importance was attached to standardized sampling as a indispensable prerequisite getting comparable data. Elevated Vtg levels were found in breams of all sampling sites nearby or at various distances downstream of the effluent entry point of sewage plants whereas low Vtg levels corresponded to sampling sites not influenced by sewage plants. Though HSI values did not correspond to the location of the sampling sites to sewage plants there was a week but statistically significant correlation to Vtg levels. Concentrations of four alkylphenols were much more lower as in the former study and were neither linked with sewage plants nor correlated with the Vtg levels. In conclusion, the linkage between accumulation of alkylphenols and effects could not be established but the relation between elevated Vtg levels and sewage plants which release other important endocrine disruptors as alkylphenols is clearly given. Key words: accumulation, effects, bream, alkylphenols |
