Smith B S
J Appl Toxicol. 1981 Feb;1(1):22-5. doi: 10.1002/jat.2550010106.
This study continues an investigation of an anatomical abnormality, named 'imposex', which consists of a superimposition of male characteristics on to a functionally normal female reproductive anatomy of the dioecious snail Nassarius obsoletus Say. Imposex is prevalent in natural populations living near yacht basins and rarely found distant from them. In the current study caged snails were transferred between a yacht basin and a distant 'clean' locality where the natural population of snails was normal. Imposex was induced in some normal snails kept at the marina and suppressed, but not lost in abnormal snails kept at the clean locality. A similar positive result was obtained in the laboratory by exposing normal snails to organotin-containing antifouling paints and abnormal snails to clean sea water. Results were negative in parallel tests of various marina-associated materials which did not contain organotin. The laboratory studies have thus identified a causative factor for the anatomical abnormalities common near yacht basins in the natural environment. They also provide a rare, if not unique, example of a chemical agent which causes the appearance of superfluous anatomical features in an animal.
本研究继续对一种名为“性畸变”的解剖学异常进行调查，这种异常表现为在雌雄异体的蜗牛——过时滨螺 Nassarius obsoletus Say功能正常的雌性生殖解剖结构上叠加雄性特征。性畸变在游艇码头附近的自然种群中普遍存在，而在远离码头的地方则很少发现。在当前研究中，用笼子装着的蜗牛在一个游艇码头和一个遥远的“清洁”地点之间转移，该清洁地点的蜗牛自然种群正常。在码头饲养的一些正常蜗牛出现了性畸变，而在清洁地点饲养的异常蜗牛的性畸变受到抑制，但并未消失。在实验室中，将正常蜗牛暴露于含有机锡的防污涂料中，将异常蜗牛暴露于清洁海水中，也得到了类似的阳性结果。对各种不含有机锡的与码头相关的材料进行的平行测试结果为阴性。因此，实验室研究确定了自然环境中游艇码头附近常见的解剖学异常的一个致病因素。它们还提供了一个即便不是独一无二也是罕见的例子，即一种化学剂导致动物出现多余的解剖学特征。
