Dr. Malins has also induced neoplasia in salmon by injecting pyro-a-benzene. He 
found that when PAHs in the Puget Sound sediments reach a level of 500 parts per billion, 
he almost always sees carcinoma in the English sole (Malins et al., 1984). High levels of 
PAHs have also been found in polychaete worms living in these sediments. Polychaete 
worms are the principal food of the English sole. 
Clearly, the Boston Harbor situation needs further study—it needs a comprehensive 
study. Unless we know or have an idea of the source of the PAHs or the compounds that 
may be causing this phenomenon, remedial actions will not be possible. The long-term 
future of Boston Harbor environment and fisheries may depend on how we respond to the 
problem now. A cooperative effort by state and federal agencies, as well as the private 
sector, will be needed to adequately address the problem. 
Question and Answer Discussion 
Question: At one point you mentioned that PCBs in fish flesh were something 
like 1.4 ppm. At what point does that become a health hazard to recreational fishing or 
to a person eating that fish? 
L. Bridges: The federal standards for all fish products for PCBs up until 
August 1984 was 5 ppm. Since then, it has been reduced to 2 ppm. Up to this point, the 
state has not adopted the federal standard and considers 5 ppm a problem. However, the 
Massachusetts Department of Public Health has informed me that they will be holding 
public hearings within a month, to adopt the 2-ppm standard. 
We've examined other fish in Boston Harbor, but I merely pointed out the 
flounder because they were from the same fish in which neoplasia were discovered. Most 
of the fish flesh from flounder in Boston Harbor has been below the 2-ppm level. 
There has been no examination of lobster, and lobster concentrate PCBs as 
much as or possibly even more than winter flounder, based on our experience in New 
Bedford Harbor. We had lobster in New Bedford Harbor with up to 78 ppm in the flesh. 
We have no information on PCBs in Boston Harbor lobster. Gordon Wallace and Dr. 
Eganhouse will be doing studies of PCBs in Boston Harbor. We have recently collected 30 
animals to analyze because public hearings are coming up and because we want to know 
something about the PCB levels in lobster in Boston Harbor. I would point out, though, 
that from our experience in New Bedford, we find that if you separate the tamale in the 
lobster from the flesh, the tamale is usually higher by a factor of ten than the normal 
flesh. 
A. Rosenfeld: I was wondering if there was any information on what the 
impact of these neoplasias of fish populations might be in terms of population dynamics 
and population fluctuations or the presence of high levels of chemicals, for example, in 
the lobster. Has there been any evidence of a decline in the overall fishery in Boston 
Harbor for winter flounder as well as lobster? 
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