WINKLER ET AL.: EFFECTS OF BENZO(A)PYRENE ON CALIFORNIA GRUNION 



to day 3 in direct proportion to initial BaP concen- 

 trations and remained at steady-state levels thereaf- 

 ter for all groups except those exposed to an initial 

 BaP dose of 297 ppb (Fig. 2). In embryos from this 

 group, levels of BaP plus its metabolites increased 

 throughout the exposure period (R = 0.882, 5 df, 

 P<0.01). At day 15, BaP concentrations in treated 

 embryos ranged from 0.459 (4 ppb initial) to 19.918 

 (869 ppb initial) ppm wet weight (Table 1). Tissue 

 burdens from the initial BaP concentrations corre- 

 sponded to bioaccumulation values of 127 to 23. 

 Bioconcentration factors of 146-437 over steady- 

 state BaP levels were measured. 



Hatching 



Hatching results are shown in Table 2. Low-level ex- 

 posure to initial concentrations of BaP (4 and 7 ppb) 

 had no significant effect (P>0.05) on the hatching 

 abilities of exposed California grunion embryos, 

 compared with the controls. However, with initial 

 concentrations of 24 ppb and greater, significant dif- 

 ferences (P<0.05) were observed between the con- 

 trol and experimental groups. At 24 ppb, 187c of the 

 California grunion hatched, as compared with an 

 average 95% hatching success in the controls. At 297 



1000 |- 



DAY 



FIGURE 2. — Amount of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) per California grun- 

 ion egg corresponding to accumulated radioactivity (6.7 nCi'"C- 

 benzo(a)pyrene/ug BaP) during the 14-d incubation period. Initial 

 dissolved BaP concentrations ranged from to 869 ppb. Values 

 shown are mean + standard deviation. 



Table 1. — Tissue burdens of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and bioaccumulation factors in 15 d-old Califor- 

 nia grunion embryos. 



1 x±SD. n = 5. 



2 Steady-state concentration not reached during study. 



ppb only 6 c /( of the California grunion hatched. After 

 being exposed to 361 ppb BaP, only two of 95 larvae 

 hatched, and both were abnormal. No eggs hatched 

 after exposure to initial BaP concentrations of 869 

 ppb. Of those eggs which hatched on day 10, 997r had 

 been exposed to and 4 ppb initial BaP concen- 

 trations, 947r had been exposed to 7 ppb BaP, and 

 927f had been exposed to 24 ppb. All other hatchings 

 occurred by day 13. 



Abnormalities 



There was significant difference (P<0.05) between 

 percent of abnormalities in yolk-sac larvae in the con- 

 trol groups and those in groups exposed to initial BaP 



Table 2. — Percent hatching of California grunion 

 eggs exposed to increasing BaP concentrations. 



1 *±SD, n = 3. 



concentrations of 24 ppb or greater (Table 3). Of 

 hatched larvae exposed to 24 ppb BaP, almost 209r 

 were abnormal, over twice the number of abnor- 

 malities found in the control group. From solutions 



475 



