Health effects of some major aquatic pollutants in European flounder

130 Pages·2006·5.19 MB·English

by  Guy Grinwis

Health effects of some major
aquatic pollutants in European
flounder:
Laboratory experiments with emphasis on
histopathological and immunological aspects
Guy Grinwis
Cover illustration: Guy Grinwis, 1967.
Health effects of some major aquatic
pollutants in European flounder:

Laboratory experiments with emphasis on histopathological and
immunological aspects

Guy Grinwis
ISBN-10: 90-393-4268-7
ISBN-13: 978-90-393-4268-8

Printing: Atalanta Drukwerkbemiddeling, Houten

The studies described in this thesis were performed as a cooperative effort by the
department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University,
the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), and
the Dutch National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management (RIKZ).
Health effects of some major aquatic
pollutants in European flounder:

Laboratory experiments with emphasis on
histopathological and immunological aspects

Gezondheidseffecten van enkele belangrijke verontreinigende stoffen in het
aquatische milieu in de bot:

Laboratorium experimenten met de nadruk op histopathologische en immunologische
aspecten

(met een samenvatting in het Nederlands)

Proefschrift

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de
rector magnificus, prof.dr. W.H. Gispen, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor
promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 29 mei 2006 des middags te
12.45 uur

door

Guillaume Cornelis Maria Grinwis

geboren op 26 mei 1962 te Utrecht, Nederland.
Promotoren: Prof. Dr. J.G. Vos
Prof. Dr. J.E. van Dijk

Co-promotoren: Dr. A.D. Vethaak
Dr. P.W. Wester
Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Short-term toxicity of bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide in flounder 15
(Platichthys flesus): Pathology and immune function

Chapter 3 Chronic aqueous exposure to bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide (TBTO) 35
causes thymotoxicity in European flounder
(Platichthys flesus)

Chapter 4 Toxicity of TCDD in European flounder (Platichthys flesus) 49
with emphasis on histopathology and cytochrome P4501A
induction in several organ systems

Chapter 5 Toxicity of PCB-126 in European Flounder (Platichthys 67
flesus) with emphasis on histopathology and cytochrome
P4501A induction in several organs systems

Chapter 6 Cytochrome P4501A induction in peripheral blood 81
leukocytes in European flounder (Platichthys flesus):
an intravital biomarker of exposure?

Chapter 7 Summary and concluding remarks 93

Nederlandse samenvatting 99

Dankwoord 103

Curriculum vitae 106

Color illustrations 107

Chapter 1

Introduction

Based on:
Toxicology of environmental chemicals in the flounder (Platichthys
flesus) with emphasis on the immune system: field, semi-field
(mesocosm) and laboratory studies

G.C.M. Grinwis, A.D. Vethaak, P.W. Wester, J.G. Vos

Toxicology Letters 112–113 (2000) 289–301; with permission from Elsevier
Chapter 1

1. General remarks

This thesis is part of a large-scale research project in which several research
institutes have participated. The primary driving force for this project was provided by
reports of epizootics of grossly visible disease signs in fish in the North Sea. Because
of concern with the possible contribution of pollution-mediated diseases to fish
mortality and population declines, these diseases and abnormalities of marine and
estuarine fish populations have received much attention. Moreover, they could be
suitable indicators for monitoring anthropogenic environmental stress (Vethaak and
ap Rheinallt, 1992). Studies of fish diseases in relation to pollution were designed to
answer the following questions:
1. in general terms, are changes in disease patterns associated with changes in
environmental quality (field surveys) ?
2. can we identify cause-and-effect relationships between disease patterns and
exposure to the complex mixture of chemical pollutants present in the
environment (semi-field experiments) ?
3. can we identify cause-and-effect relationships for specific chemical contaminants
(laboratory experiments) ?

The answers to these questions are highly relevant to the potential use of disease as
a biomarker of contaminant effects. The questions mentioned above were addressed
in an integrated study strategy (Fig. 1) in which field, semi-field and laboratory
studies with the euryhaline fish species European flounder (Platichthys flesus) were
carried out in The Netherlands. Each type of study has its strengths and
disadvantages regarding the relevance of its results to natural populations and to
relationships between pollution and disease (correlative or causal), but combined
they are complementary.
Both field and semi-field studies have been performed in the past. This thesis
reports the results of laboratory experiments, the missing link between correlative
and causal evidence.

Evidence Control of variables Relevance to
natural populations

Correlative none
only Field study

Semi-field moderate moderate
study

Laboratory
study Low (needs

Causal high Extrapolation)

Fig. 1. Integrated approach to study the causes of wildlife diseases (According to Vethaak,
1993).
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