Field and Laboratory Studies of Chemical Contamination and EnvironmentallyRelated Diseases in Fish and Molluscs of New England

摘要

The concentration of PCBs, PAHs, insecticides and metals in some aquaticecosystems have reached high levels placing identified populations at risk to chemical, physical, and biological agents in estuarine and open coastal areas of the United States. In the last three decades scientific studies bolstered evidence for a causal relationship between spontaneous and chemically induced pathological effects on marine organisms and exposure to industrial and agricultural pollutants discharged into aquatic ecosystems. In subsequent years research, both in the laboratory and at polluted estuarine or marine sites, has elucidated causal relationships between processes of pathogenesis of lesions (including carcinogenesis) and exposure to specific toxic agents. Today, research