Bioaccumulation and subchronic physiological effects of waterborne iron overload on whitefish exposed in humic and nonhumic water.

One-year-old whitefish, Coregonus lavaretus, were exposed to three types of iron-rich water, two dilutions for each, in a subchronic (30-day) experiment. In natural iron-rich humic water, both the bioaccumulation and physiological effects of iron exposure were negligible. In humic-free water with high amount of additional inorganic iron (nominally 8 mg Fe/L), Fe accumulated in gills, liver, and gut. This accumulation was accompanied by decreased glycogen phosphorylase activities and microsomal EROD activity in the liver as well as decreased plasma sodium and potassium concentrations. The third group of whitefish were exposed by adding inorganic iron (nominally 2 and 8 mg Fe/L) to natural ir…