Influence of Body Weight on Chronic Oral DDT Toxicity in Coho Salmon

Abstract
Median Survival Time was directly proportional to body weight in young coho salmon of the same age that were fed a diet containing technical DDT. Supplementation by additional feeding with DDT-free diet prolonged the lifespan of these fish but the Median Survival Time remained a direct function of body weight.The primary effect of body size on lethality was to control the rate of DDT intake by the fish. The smallest fish consumed the greatest amounts of diet and, consequently, these fish received the highest milligram per kilogram doses of DDT.In addition, however, the smaller salmon succumbed to a lower milligram per kilogram cumulative lethal dose than did the larger fish, perhaps because the smallest fish contained a lower percentage of lipid and thus failed to provide for adequate storage detoxification of the DDT.

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