Asessment of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in the Assabet River and its Tributaries
Dr. Kathleen ArcaroKasie Auger
April 21, 2011
Water was collected from 5 locations in the Assabet River and its tributaries
• Kasie Auger, Marc Zimmerman, and John Colman collected water from 5 sites in early August of summer 2010
• This water was brought back to the lab at Umass Amherst where the exposure studies were conducted
Sites
• Sites were chosen to include a range of impacted environments
– Wastewater impacted sites such as Assabet at Rte 9, Westboro
– Non-point source or septic influenced sites such as Fort Pond Brook and Coles Brook, Acton
Materials• Seven tanks included in the exposure• 1 negative control containing laboratory water• 1 positive control containing 1 ppb E2
• 5 tanks each containing the water samples collected from the Assabet River and its tributaries
• 35 male Japanese Medaka 5 for each exposure
Methods
• 1000 mL of each water sample was placed into its respective tank
• 5 male Japanese Medaka were placed into each tank
• At 24 hours an 80% renewal of each tank was performed
• At 48 hours fish were sacrificed and tissues were harvested
Methods
• RNA was isolated
• RNA was quantified and diluted to .1μg/μL
• Real Time RT-PCR measured expression of two genes VTG and L7 in Relative Fluorescent Units
• With this information relative expression levels were graphed …
Results From The First Round Of TestingIncreased VTG Expression Was Not Observed In Male Japanese Medaka
Exposed To Assabet River Water And Its Tributaries
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