Toxicology

The effects of endocrine disruptors on the reproductive biology of resident fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have been studied at BML. Endocrine disruption in the inland silverside (Menidia spp.) has been the focus for a number or years since populations of native fish are so low and several are listed as endangered, Menidia is an ideal indicator species as they have a limited home range, are found across broad salinity gradients, and are reproductive for about 4-6 months.

The Toxicology Laboratory has been participating in a multidisciplinary center award (5 years and just renewed for another 5 years) from the NSF and the EPA that established the University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanomaterials (UC CEIN), based at UCLA and UCSB. This center award has a number of multidisciplinary “themes” that range from chemical engineering to public perception of nanotechnology.

The BML Toxicology Laboratory (G.N. Cherr, Principle Investigator) has focused extensively on Pacific herring in San Francisco Bay in that they are key to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem and represent the last commercial fishery inside of the Bay. The BML Toxicology Group was the first to demonstrate that creosote-treated pier pilings (and the soluble polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; PAHs) present a danger to herring embryos when eggs are spawned directly on the piling surfaces.