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Concentrations and Profiles of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, -Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and -Dibenzofurans in Livers of Mink from South Carolina and Louisiana, U.S.A.

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Abstract

In South Carolina, U.S.A., mink have been reintroduced from two apparently healthy populations to areas where populations haveexisted in the past but have been extirpated. High mortality wasobserved during transport of mink from the source populations. Inorder to elucidate the potential effects of dioxin-like compoundson the survival and reproduction of mink, concentrations of totalpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p′-DDE, dioxin-likePCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), anddibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in livers of mink collectedfrom the source populations in South Carolina and Louisiana. Concentrations of total 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxinequivalents (TEQs) for the South Carolina and Louisiana mink were21 and 14 pg g-1, wet wt., respectively. PCB and TEQ concentrations were close to the threshold values that can, under laboratory conditions, elicit toxic effects in ranchmink. Therefore, any additional exposures of these populations toTEQs might adversely affect their populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Toxicology, Clemson University, Pendleton, South Carolina, U.S.A

    Carrie L. Tansy & William W. Bowerman

  2. Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Japan

    Kurunthachalam Senthilkumar & Shigeki Masunaga

  3. Department of Zoology, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, Institute of Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A

    Stephanie D. Pastva, Kurunthachalam Kannan & John P. Giesy

Authors
  1. Carrie L. Tansy
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  2. Kurunthachalam Senthilkumar
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  3. Stephanie D. Pastva
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  4. Kurunthachalam Kannan
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  5. William W. Bowerman
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  6. Shigeki Masunaga
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  7. John P. Giesy
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Tansy, C.L., Senthilkumar, K., Pastva, S.D. et al. Concentrations and Profiles of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, -Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and -Dibenzofurans in Livers of Mink from South Carolina and Louisiana, U.S.A.. Environ Monit Assess 83, 17–33 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022450603004

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