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The effect of chlorine toxicity on certain blood parameters of adult rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

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In an effort to assess the mode of chlorine action on rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), hematocrit percentage, and hemoglobin, methemoglobin, reduced glutathione, plasma protein, and plasma hemoglobin concentrations were determined in four tests in which duplicate groups of approximately 15 fish each were exposed to 3.86, 2.47, 2.75, and 1.09 mg 1−1 TRC12 for 8, 19, 20, and 29 minutes, respectively. Blood from fish exposed to chlorine was darker and thicker than that of the control. Chlorine seemed to diffuse readily through the gills, oxidizing the hemoglobin to methemoglobin and disrupting the erythrocyte membranes, resulting in hemolysis. Stress polycythemia was also due to the substantial increase of the hematocrit values and hemoglobin concentration. Hemoconcentration led to a significant rise in the reduced gluthathione and plasma protein concentrations. The hemoconcentration seemed to interfere with the blood circulation and hinder the delivery of oxygen to tissues.

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  1. Department of Environmental Services, Consumers Power Company, Jackson, Michigan, 49201, USA

    Ibrahim H. Zeitoun

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  1. Ibrahim H. Zeitoun
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Zeitoun, I.H. The effect of chlorine toxicity on certain blood parameters of adult rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). Environ Biol Fish 1, 189–195 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000410

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000410

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