Chronic toxicity of environmental contaminants: sentinels and biomarkers

Due to the use of a limited number of species and subchronic exposures, current ecological hazard assessment processes can underestimate the chronic toxicity of environmental contaminants resulting in adverse responses of sentinel species. Several incidences where sentinel species have responded to the effects of chronic exposure to ambient levels of environmental contaminants are discussed, including the development of neoplasia in fish, immunosuppression in marine mammals, pseudohermaphrodism in invertebrates, teratogenicity in amphibians, and aberrations in the sexual development of fish and reptiles. Biomarkers of chronic toxicity, including DNA mutations, alterations in specific protein and mRNA levels, and perturbations in metabolism, are presented. The incorporation of appropriate surrogate species and biomarkers of chronic toxicity into standard toxicity characterizations is proposed as a means of significantly refining the ecological hazard assessment process.