U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting Charleston South Carolina March 8-12,1999--Volume 2 of 3--Contamination of Hydrologic Systems and Related Ecosystems, Water-Resources Investigation Report 99-4018B

Halogenated Organic Compounds in Endocrine-Disrupted Male Carp from Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead, Nevada

By Thomas J. Leiker, Hugh E. Bevans, and Steven L. Goodbred

This report is available in pdf format: Leiker.pdf

ABSTRACT

Adult common male carp from Las Vegas Wash, Las Vegas Bay, and Callville Bay were collected and tested for the concentration of vitellogenin in blood. The presence of vitellogenin was confirmed in the male carp from Las Vegas Wash and Bay. Extracts of fish tissue of adult male carp were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extracts contained low microgram-per-kilogram concentrations of common chlorinated pesticides typically found in the environment. The extracts also contained a series of chlorinated and brominated organic compounds that have not been previously reported in this water system. These compounds range in concentration from low to high micrograms-per-kilogram. Nonyl phenols and nonyl phenol ethoxylates were also detected at hundreds of microgram-per-kilogram concentrations.