The St. Lawrence River, at Cornwall Ontario, has accumulated sediment contaminants, mainly mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), from industrial point sources over many years. Although those sources are past, the river at Cornwall remains an Area of Concern (AOC). Because of remediation and other changes in the AOC, improved knowledge of contaminants in wild-fish and their putative links to health effects could help decision makers to better assess the AOC’s state. Thus, we compared tissue concentrations of Hg, PCBs, morphometric measures of health, and biomarkers of exposure, metabolic-, and reproductive health in native brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) from the AOC to those of upstream reference fish. Linear discriminant analysis separated the adult fish of both sexes among upstream and downstream sites without misclassification. Burdens of total-Hg (all sites) and PCB toxic equivalents (downstream sites) exceeded the guidance for the protection of wildlife consumers. There were subtle effects of site on physiological variables, particularly in female fish. Total-Hg in tissue correlated negatively to plasma testosterone and 17β-estradiol in female fish at Cornwall: moreover, concentrations of both hormones were lower within the AOC compared to reference site fish. A similar effect on vitellogenin, which was uncorrelated to E2/T at the downstream sites, indicated the potential for reproductive effects. Downstream fish also had altered thyroidal status (T₃, TSH, and ratio of thyroid epithelial cell area to colloid area). Despite spatial and temporal variability of the endocrine-related responses, these subtle effects on fish health within the AOC warrant further study.

中文翻译：

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关注的圣劳伦斯河（康沃尔）地区的棕色顽固：在多氯联苯和汞的组织浓度范围内的健康和内分泌状况。

安大略省康沃尔郡的圣劳伦斯河多年来积累了来自工业点的沉积物污染物，主要是汞（Hg）和多氯联苯（PCB）。尽管这些来源已经过去，但康沃尔郡的河流仍是关注区域（AOC）。由于AOC的修复和其他变化，对野生鱼中污染物的了解及其与健康影响的可能联系的增强知识可以帮助决策者更好地评估AOC的状态。因此，我们比较了本地棕色bull鱼（Ameiurus nebulosus）中的汞含量，PCBs，健康的形态计量指标以及暴露，代谢和生殖健康的生物标志物，）从AOC到上游参考鱼。线性判别分析将上游和下游部位之间的成年鱼分开，没有错误分类。总汞（所有场所）和多氯联苯有毒当量（下游场所）的负担超出了保护野生动植物消费者的准则。部位对生理变量有微妙的影响，特别是在雌鱼中。在康沃尔郡的雌性​​鱼类中，组织中的总汞与血浆睾丸激素和17β-雌二醇呈负相关：此外，与参考部位的鱼类相比，AOC中两种激素的浓度均较低。对卵黄蛋白原的类似作用与下游位点的E2 / T不相关，表明可能具有生殖作用。下游鱼类也改变了甲状腺状态（T ₃，TSH以及甲状腺上皮细胞面积与胶体面积之比）。尽管内分泌相关反应的时空变化，但在AOC中对鱼类健康的这些细微影响值得进一步研究。