TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP ROYAL PAVILLION RESORT, ATLANTIC BEACH, NC MARCH 18 - 20, 1997 Liver neoplasms and Contaminants in Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from the Saint Lawrence River, Québec, Canada. Igor Mikaelian1, Chantal Ménard2, Yves de Lafontaine2, Pierre Tellier3, John C. Harshbarger4, Daniel Martineau1 1Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre and Centre Québécois sur la Santé des Animaux Sauvages, Département de Pathologie et de Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6, Canada;2Centre SaintLaurent, Environnement Canada, Montréal, Québec H2Y 2E7, Canada;3Laboratoires Bio-Recherches Ltée, Senneville, Québec H9X 3R3, Canada;4Registry of Tumors in Lower animals, George Washington University Medical Center, Department of Pathology, Washington, DC 20037, U.S.A. Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis; n = 141), white suckers (Catostomus commersoni; n = 202), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum; n = 357), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus; n = 381), were collected in 1994 and 1995 from the St-Lawrence river 15 km upstream to Quebec city, Quebec, Canada. In lake whitefish, prevalences of altered hepatocyte foci, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangioma and cholangiocarcinoma were 0.7 %, 2.1 %, 0.7 % and 2.1 %, respectively. No liver tumor was found in any fish of other species. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, chlorobenzenes, and heavy metals were analyzed in the liver. The mean concentration was several fold higher in the lake whitefish (n=16) than in channel catfish (n=39), white suckers (n= 17), or walleye (n=20) for PCBs (1.75 mg/g for lake whitefish, 0.23 to 0.46 mg/g for the other species), endrine (6.59 ng/g for lake whitefish, not detected (ND) to 0.78 ng/g for the other species), mirex (9.84 ng/g for lake whitefish, ND to 3.28 ng/g for the other species), photomirex (13.30 ng/g for the lake whitefish, 1.24 to 2.69 ng/g for the other species), and copper (30.4 mg/g for lake whitefish, 4.0 to 6.3 mg/g for the other species). Mean levels of other major pesticides, chlorobenzenes and other heavy metals were not significantly different. These results suggest that liver neoplasms in lake whitefish could be etiologically related to high chemical contamination. Return to 22nd Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page