Altered serum sex steroids and vitellogenin induction in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) collected near a metropolitan sewage treatment plant

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 392 - 398
• Main Authors: FOLMAR, L. C, DENSLOW, N. D, KROLL, K, ORLANDO, E. F, ENBLOM, J, MARCINO, J, METCALFE, C, GUILLETTE, L. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-03-2001; Berlin Springer Nature B.V; New York, NY
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Anthropogenic factors; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Cyprinus carpio; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Effluents; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Monitoring; estrogens; Estrogens - biosynthesis; Estrogens - blood; Female; Females; Fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Indigenous species; Industrial wastes; Life history; Male; Males; Perciformes - physiology; Rivers; Sewage - adverse effects; Sewage disposal; Sewage treatment; Sewage treatment plants; Steroids; Stizostedion vitreum; Studies; Testosterone - biosynthesis; Testosterone - blood; USA, Mississippi R; USA, Washington, Snake R; vitellogenin; Vitellogenins - biosynthesis; Vitellogenins - blood; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Wastewater treatment plants; Water Pollutants - adverse effects; United States; North America; America; USA, Minnesota; USA, Snake R; North America, Mississippi R; USA, Minnesota, St. Paul; Mimetic hormone; Androgen; Induction; Stizostedion vitreum; Toxicity; Estrogen; 17β-Estradiol; Male; Endocrine disruptor; Spatial variation; Vitellogenin; Sewage treatment plant; Freshwater environment; Testosterone; Vertebrata; Pisces; Female; Water pollution; Stream; Intraspecific comparison; Waste water discharge
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s002440010188

Several recent in situ studies have reported that domestic and mixed domestic/industrial sewage effluents contain one or more natural or anthropogenic estrogenic substances. Those studies examined caged or feral fish for the presence of the egg yolk precursor protein, vitellogenin (VTG), in the blood of male fish. We have previously reported that male, feral carp (Cyprinus carpio) obtained from the effluent channel of a major sewage treatment plant (STP) exhibited depressed serum testosterone (T) concentrations, as well as detectable levels of VTG. The present study examines male and female walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), a native species with a different life history and feeding habits, collected from the same Mississippi River locations below the St. Paul metropolitan STP. All male and female walleye collected from the effluent channel contained measurable levels of VTG in their blood. Males from that location also exhibited depressed serum T concentrations and elevated serum estradiol-17beta (E2) concentrations compared with males from the Snake River reference site. Males obtained from Mississippi River Navigational Pool #2 (MRP-2), 3-20 miles downstream of the STP also exhibited reduced serum T concentrations, but showed no alterations in E2 concentrations or the presence of VTG in the serum. Females collected at the STP site had greatly elevated serum E2 concentrations, but serum T concentrations were not different from females collected in the Snake River. Our results demonstrate that the St. Paul metropolitan STP continues to release an estrogenic effluent, capable of inducing VTG production and altering normal serum sex steroid concentrations in a commercially valuable, native fish, the walleye. Additional studies will be required to determine whether these observations portend long-term population level effects.