EFFECTS INDUCED BY FEEDING ORGANOCHLORINE-CONTAMINATED CARP FROM SAGINAW BAY, LAKE-HURON, TO LAYING WHITE LEGHORN HENS .1. EFFECTS ON HEALTH OF ADULT HENS, EGG-PRODUCTION, AND FERTILITY

This study was conducted to determine the effects of consumption of ha logenated hydrocarbon compounds, primarily polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs), contained in Great Lakes fish by the domestic chicken (Gallus d omesticus), in this article we report the results of feeding White Leg horn hens for a period of a wk diets that contained 31-35% ocean fish and/or carp (Cyprinus carpio) from Saginaw Bay, lake Huron, Ml, which provided 0.3 (control), 0.8 (low-dose group), or 6.6 (high-dose group) mg PCB/kg, wet weight (ww). These concentrations were analogous to 3. 3, 26, or 59 pg 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) equivalents (TEQs)/g diet, ww, respectively. There were no significant effects on feed consumption among the groups. An unexpectedly high incidence of fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) was observed in hens from the control (78% FLHS) and low-dose (75% FLHS) groups when compared to the high-dose group (15% FLHS). Birds in the control and low-dose groups had a significant increase in liver and body weights. Significant decr eases in egg production, weight, and fertility were immediate in all d ose groups, with the effect being permanent in the control and low-dos e groups. Although the incidence of FLHS was an unexpected complicatio n, the tact chat there were no significant effects on egg production, egg weights, or fertility in the high-dose group suggests that the no- observable-adverse-effect concentration (NOAEC) for these parameters i s in excess of 26 mg total weathered PCBs/kg egg, ww. This value was t he average concentration of PCBs in the high-dose group eggs during th e last week of the study.