Assessment of the Piscine Micronucleus Test as an in situ Biological indicator of Chemical Contaminant Effects

Abstract

The piscine micronucleus test was assessed for sensitivity and practicality as an in situ biological indicator of chemical contaminant exposure by an application to the peripheral blood of wild white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) collected from polluted and reference areas along the California coast. The several types of variations from the usual erythrocyte nuclear morphology observed in the blood smears collected for this study were described and the frequencies were compared with measured levels of certain classes of contaminants in white croaker bile and liver, and in sediment collected at each site, in addition, the frequencies were also compared with the prevalence of idiopathic lesions in the livers of the croaker. However, the piscine micronucleus test appeared to lack sensitivity to the presence and effects of the measured contaminants because no association was detected between the frequencies of the erythrocyte nuclear variations and levels of chemical contamination, even though most of the observed variations resembled the published descriptions of variations presumed to be nuclear lesions in earlier investigations. Even if the test had been found to be sensitive, the Sow and variable frequencies of the observed nuclear lesions would present a serious difficulty to the useful application of the test.