Preliminary Assessments of the Effects of Fuel Oil Hydrocarbon Exposure on Health-Related Parameters Among White Perch from the Patuxent River
IAAAM Archive
Christine Densmore1; Vicki Blazer1; Christopher Ottinger1; Gerald Kananen2; Larry Pieper3; Luke Iwanowicz4; Deborah Cartwright5; Elizabeth Frankenberry5
1U.S. Geological Survey, National Fish Health Research Laboratory, Kearneysville, WV; 2Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD; 3Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD; 4Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., National Fish Health Research Laboratory, Kearneysville, WV; 5U.S. Geological Survey, National Fish Health Research Laboratory, Kearneysville, WV

Abstract

In April 2000, a leaking pipeline spilled approximately 111,000 gallons of fuel oil into the waters of the Patuxent River and its surrounding marshland in southern Maryland. While initial clean-up efforts included wildlife recovery and rehabilitation, the chronic effects of the oil spill on the Patuxent River ecosystem, including aquatic wildlife, have not yet been determined. As part of our Chesapeake Bay tributary-based fish health assessment project, investigators from the U.S. Geological Survey and other collaborating agencies have sampled white perch (Morone americana) from the Patuxent River for a variety of health-related indicators, both before and after the oil spill. Fish from other Chesapeake Bay tributaries have also been sampled, so that fish health data may be compared not only chronologically for the Patuxent River fish but among the different tributaries as well. Fish health evaluation includes gross necropsy findings, histological examination of tissues, and immune function assays. White perch tissues are also being analyzed for the presence of hydrocarbon residues. As data collection is ongoing and data analysis is underway, preliminary results will be presented and discussed.

Speaker Information
(click the speaker's name to view other papers and abstracts submitted by this speaker)

Christine L. Densmore, DVM, PhD
National Fish Health Research Laboratory
U.S. Geological Survey-Biological Resources Division
Kearneysville, WV, USA


MAIN : Immunology, Pathology : Hydrocarbon Exposure
Powered By VIN
SAID=27