Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) foraging on the canal 'Zeehavenkanaal' in the Netherlands have been shown to accumulate appreciable amounts of contaminants, especially hexachlorobenzene. The present study was performed to assess the embryotoxic effects of the present contaminants. To this end, a two step approach was followed. In step one, the toxic effects of hexachlorobenzene were studied in the chicken embryo bioassay, using concentrations realistic for the field situation. In step two, yolks of oystercatcher eggs were extracted and the embryotoxic potency of this extract was studied in the same bioassay, using doses of 1, 10 and 100% of the contaminant load in one average egg. The extract contained hexachlorobenzene and PCBs. However, presence of other compounds could not be excluded, since these were not analysed. Hexachlorobenzene induced a nonsignificant decrease in lymphocyte density in the bursa of Fabricius. The egg extract caused a 3.5 fold induction of EROD activity at the highest dose applied, and decreased lymphocyte density in the bursa of Fabricius.

中文翻译：

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荷兰Zeehavenkanaal的牡蛎卵（Haematopus ostralegus）提取物及其主要污染物六氯苯对鸡胚的影响。

在荷兰的“ Zeehavenkanaal”运河上觅食的蛎cat（Haematopus ostralegus）已被证明会积聚大量污染物，尤其是六氯苯。进行本研究以评估当前污染物的胚胎毒性作用。为此，采用了两步法。在第一步中，使用适合现场情况的浓度在鸡胚生物测定法中研究了六氯苯的毒性作用。在第二步中，提取卵黄的牡蛎卵，并在相同的生物测定法中研究该提取物的胚胎毒性效能，使用一个鸡蛋中污染物负荷的1、10和100％的剂量。提取物含有六氯苯和多氯联苯。但是，不能排除其他化合物的存在，因为未对其进行分析。六氯苯诱导Fabricius滑囊中淋巴细胞密度无明显下降。鸡蛋提取物在最高剂量下引起EROD活性的3.5倍诱导，并降低了Fabricius滑囊中的淋巴细胞密度。