Experimental Induction of Liver Tumours in Rainbow Trout (Salmo gairdneri) by Contaminated Sediment from Hamilton Harbour, Ontario

Abstract

Sediments from Hamilton Harbour and an uncontaminated control site were collected and extracted for organic contaminants to investigate the putative association between chemical contaminants and high incidences of fish tumours in Hamilton Harbour. Sediment extract from Hamilton Harbour had high levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and was mutagenic in the Ames bacterial mutagenicity assay. In two sets of experiments using a trout sac-fry microinjection route of exposure, Hamilton Harbour sediment extract induced hepatocellular carcinomas in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).