405
the importance of combined field observations and experimental exposures to
isolate causation when examining sub-lethal health effects of oil spills.
The underlying and critical question in evaluating oil spill effects is one of causation; do oil spills cause sub-lethal effects? Applying Hill’s criteria (strength of
association, consistency, specificity, temporality, biological gradient, plausibility,
coherence, experiment, and analogy), typically used for evaluating causality in epidemiologic data, sub-lethal oil spill effects do occur in oil-exposed fishes, and they
are potentially significant to short- and long-term population viability. Sub-lethal
Fig. 24.9 (a) Linear correlations between average total PAHs and alkylated homologs (TPAH) in
liver tissue and frequency of glycogen-type vacuolar change, FCA, and biliary fibrosis by station
are strong and significant. (b) Correlations between average biliary naphthalene (NPH) metabolites and frequency of hepatocellular atrophy, FCA, and biliary fibrosis by station are strong but not
significant at α = 0.05 (Snyder et al. 2019)
24 Chronic Sub-lethal Effects Observed in Wild-Caught Fishes Following Two Major…
the importance of combined field observations and experimental exposures to
isolate causation when examining sub-lethal health effects of oil spills.
The underlying and critical question in evaluating oil spill effects is one of causation; do oil spills cause sub-lethal effects? Applying Hill’s criteria (strength of
association, consistency, specificity, temporality, biological gradient, plausibility,
coherence, experiment, and analogy), typically used for evaluating causality in epidemiologic data, sub-lethal oil spill effects do occur in oil-exposed fishes, and they
are potentially significant to short- and long-term population viability. Sub-lethal
Fig. 24.9 (a) Linear correlations between average total PAHs and alkylated homologs (TPAH) in
liver tissue and frequency of glycogen-type vacuolar change, FCA, and biliary fibrosis by station
are strong and significant. (b) Correlations between average biliary naphthalene (NPH) metabolites and frequency of hepatocellular atrophy, FCA, and biliary fibrosis by station are strong but not
significant at α = 0.05 (Snyder et al. 2019)
24 Chronic Sub-lethal Effects Observed in Wild-Caught Fishes Following Two Major…