Relationships between toxicopathic hepatic lesions and exposure to chemical contaminants in English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus), starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus), and white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) from selected marine sites on the Pacific Coast, USA.

Relationships between hepatic lesions and chemical contaminant concentrations in sediments, stomach contents, liver tissue, and bile were statistically evaluated in three species of bottomfish, English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus), starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus), and white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus), captured from 27 urban and nonurban sites on the Pacific Coast from Alaska to southern California. Lesions detected were neoplasms, preneoplastic foci of cellular alteration, nonneoplastic proliferative lesions, unique or specific degenerative/necrotic lesions, nonspecific degenerative/necrotic lesions, and hydropic vacuolation of biliary epithelial cells and hepatocytes. In general, lesion prevalences were significantly higher in all three species captured at chemically contaminated urban sites, and certain lesions had significantly higher relative risks of occurrence at urban sites in Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, the vicinity of Los Angeles, and San Diego Bay. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT and its derivatives, and chlordanes and dieldrin in sediment, stomach contents, liver, and fluorescent aromatic compounds in bile were significant risk factors for the occurrence of neoplastic, preneoplastic, nonneoplastic proliferative, and specific degenerative/necrotic lesions, as well as hydropic vacuolation. Fish age also had a significant influence on occurrence of several hepatic lesions, but gender was rarely a significant risk factor. These relationships provide strong evidence for the involvement of environmental contaminants in the etiology of hepatic lesions in several marine bottomfish species and clearly indicate the utility of these lesions as biomarkers of contaminant-induced effects in wild fish.