Causes for the estrogenicity of plankton from Lake Thun

Funding

• Kanton Bern
  

Since 2000, high frequencies of gonadal malformations in whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from Lake Thun, Switzerland, have been observed. Figure A shows an intersex gonade with ovarie (O) and testis (H) tissue intermixed. In Figure B normal testis (L) are displayed together with compartmented organs (R). The cause(s) for these phenomenon are currently being investigated. Internal exposure to known anthropogenic to endocrine-active compounds can be excluded, since none were found in whitefish bile or muscle. However, it turns out that some plankton sample extracts are estrogenic in different in vitro tests. A search for unknowns using high-resolution mass spectrometry and effect-directed analysis is currently underway.

Reference

A Liedtke et al., Aquatic Toxicol, 2009, 93, 158-165