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PCB Effects on Fish and Wildlife Health


Abt Associates staff have more than 15 years of experience investigating the toxicity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to fish and wildlife. During this time, Abt staff have served as investigators and managers of several projects examining the toxicity of PCBs to fish and birds.

These investigations include examining PCB concentrations in fish tissue, biochemical markers indicative of PCB exposure in fish, and PCB source determination based on congener composition profiles in sediment samples.

In addition to analyzing and interpreting PCB data from field samples, Abt has experience conducting laboratory bioassays with PCBs and interpreting toxicological results based on PCB concentrations in tissue and sediments. For example, Abt staff served as key researchers for several avian developmental studies related to the Hudson River NRDA in New York: Ottinger and Dean, 2011; Carro et al., 2013; Dean and Ottinger, 2014; Dean et al., 2016.

Abt staff are assisting in the design and implementation of a series of bioassays using zebrafish exposed to various PCB mixtures to determine how PCBs accumulated by adults are linked to adverse effects in their offspring.

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