Feeding Great Lakes fish to mink: effects on mink and accumulation and elimination of PCBS by mink.

The effects of feeding Great Lakes fish or fish products (carp, sucker, perch scraps, whitefish racks, and alewife fishmeal) to mink were studied. Growth and furring of mink were normal for all species of fish tested. However, mink fed carp failed to reproduce, and the reproductive performance and/or kit survival in groups fed the perch, whitefish, and sucker were inferior to the control. Only the alewife fishmeal diet supported reproduction and kit survival comparable to the control. PCB residues (as Aroclor 1254) accumulated in mink subcutaneous body fat to as much as 38 times the dietary level, while some individual congeners accumulated up to 200 times. The half-life of PCB in mink adipose tissue was determined to be 98 d. The toxicity of PCBs derived from Great Lakes fish was greater than that observed in previous studies with mink fed comparable levels of technical-grade PCBs.