Assessment of effects in mink caused by consumption of carp collected from the Saginaw River, Michigan, USA.

Polychlorinated hydrocarbons, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that bioconcentrate in the food chain. Numerous studies have demonstrated mink (Mustela vison) to be one of the most sensitive species to this group of compounds. In recent studies, a lesion characterized by osteoinvasion of epithelial cells into the mandible and maxilla of young mink fed diets containing 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) was observed. The objective of the present study was to determine if proliferation of maxillary and mandibular squamous epithelia could be induced in ranch mink exposed to environmentally-derived polychlorinated hydrocarbons (PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs) in utero, during lactation, and throughout the growth period. Adult female mink were fed diets containing 0, 10, 20, or 30% carp (Cyprinus carpio) collected from the Saginaw River, Bay City, Michigan, USA, that provided 0.03, 0.83, 1.1, and 1.7 mg total PCBs (tPCBs)/kg feed and 2.5, 28, 47, and 73 ng TCDD toxic equivalents (TEQs)/kg feed, respectively, three weeks prior to breeding through weaning of the resulting offspring. Mink kits were maintained on their respective diets for up to 27 weeks of age. At 6 and 27 weeks of age, six to eight mink in each treatment group were necropsied and their jaws examined for evidence of maxillary and mandibular squamous epithelial proliferation. Results indicated that inclusion of up to 30% carp in the diet (1.7 mg tPCBs/kg feed, 73 ng TEQs/kg feed) had no effect on mink reproduction and kit survivability. However, maxillary and mandibular squamous epithelial proliferation was evident in four of the seven 27-week-old juveniles in the 20% carp group (1.1 mg tPCBs/kg feed, 47 ng TEQs/kg feed) and six of the eight juveniles in the 30% carp group (1.7 mg tPCBs/kg feed group, 73 ng TEQs/kg feed). Hepatic concentrations of tPCBs and TEQs increased in both the 6-week-old kits and the 27-week-old juveniles as the percentage of dietary carp increased. The livers of 6-week-old kits were also assessed for the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which increased as the percentage of Saginaw River carp in the diet increased.