The Effect of Chronic Exposure to 238Pu(IV) Citrate on the Embryonic Development of Carp and Fathead Minnow Eggs

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Abstract
This study focused on the effects of plutonium to the developing fish egg. A quantitative analysis of the uptake of 238Pu(IV) citrate by carp eggs indicated that plutonium is accumulated in the egg and reaches a concentration factor of approx 4 at hatching (72 hr after exposure begins). Autoradiographs made from carp eggs that had been exposed to 238Pu revealed that, although some plutonium was concentrated on the egg chorion, plutonium that penetrated the chorion was uniformly distributed throughout the perivitelline fluid, embryo, and yolk sac. Using the uptake data For carp eggs, dose conversion factors were calculated for both carp eggs and fathead minnow eggs exposed to 238Pu during embryological development. These values were 2100rad/μCi/ml and 7500rad/μCi/ml for carp and fathead minnows, respectively. Experiments were conducted in which both carp and fathead minnow eggs were exposed to plutonium in solution during embryogenesis; the percentage of eggs hatching, the number of abnormal larvae produced, and the survival of larvae were used as indicators of radiation toxicity. Concentrations in excess of 1 μCi/ml were required to prevent both species of eggs from hatching. It is concluded that fish eggs developing in natural aquatic ecosystems contaminated with plutonium probably do not receive a significant dose from the plutonium alpha radioactivity. Future analysis of fecundity and the production of abnormalities in the offspring of larvae exposed during embryological development would provide an additional degree of sensitivity to the toxicity test system used in this study.

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