Page 925 - The Toxicology of Fishes

The Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Fish from Puget Sound, Washington 905

0.125 A Neo 0.30 B FCA
Threshold = 2800 ppb Threshold = 54 ppb
0.100 0.25
Cl: 11–5500 ppb Cl: na–870
0.20
0.075
0.15
0.050
0.10
0.025
0.05
0.000
0.00
1 10 100 1000 10000 1 10 100 1000 10000
Total PAHs (ppb) Total PAHs (ppb)

0.6 C SDN 0.35 D Prolif
Threshold = 940 ppb 0.30 Threshold = 230 ppb
0.5 Cl: 681–1200 ppb Cl: 1.4–830 ppb
0.25
0.4
0.20
0.3
0.15
0.2
0.10
0.1 0.05
0.0 0.00
1 10 100 1000 10000 1 10 100 1000 10000
Total PAHs (ppb) Total PAHs (ppb)

0.7 E Any lesion
Threshold = 620 ppb
0.6
Cl: 300–1000 ppb
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
1 10 100 1000 10000
Total PAHs (ppb)
FIGURE 22.19 Hockey-stick regressions of hepatic lesion prevalence in English sole vs. total polycyclic aromatic hydro-
carbons (PAHs) in bottom sediment in bottom sediment in ng/g dry wt (ppb) for (A) neoplasms (Neo); (B) foci of cellular
alteration (FCA); (C) specific degenerative/necrosis (SDN) lesions; (D) proliferative (Prolif) lesions; and (E) Neo, FCA, or
SDN (any lesion). Threshold concentrations are indicated by arrows. Shaded gray bar represents the 90% confidence interval.
No lower confidence limit was found for the FCA threshold estimate. n = 29. (From Horness, B. et al., Environ. Toxicol.
Chem., 17, 162–172, 1998. With permission.)

Although the data are insufficient to statistically determine precise thresholds for other effects in
English sole, the available information suggests that impacts on growth and reproduction begin to occur
at sediment PAH concentration in a similar range; for example, in Figure 22.20 the prevalences of several