Résumé
Although the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been banned for several decades, they are still present in the environment. Field analyses have established correlations between exposure to PCBs and alterations in fish physiology including reproductive function and behaviour. In the present study, we performed a life-cycle exposure using zebrafish and mixtures representative of some environmental situations in terms of doses, composition and containing mainly non dioxin-like congeners. Exposure was performed through diet which is the main contamination route in the wild. We demonstrated a bioaccumulation of PCBs in males and females as well as a maternal transfer to the eggs.Several reproductive traits were altered after exposure to a PCB-contaminated diet, including a reduction in the number of fertilized eggs per spawn as well as an increase in the number of poorly fertilized spawns. This was related to modifications of ovary histology revealing a decrease of maturing follicles and an increase of atretic follicles in the ovaries of females exposed to PCBs.In addition, several behavioural traits were monitored. Fish exposed to the highest dose (equivalent to that found in the Seine Estuary) displayed an increased swimming activity during the period at the end of the night. Fish exposed to an intermediate dose (equivalent to that found in the Loire estuary) displayed behavioural disruption analogous to hyperactivity that showed some similarities to a human behavioural deficit syndrome known as attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which can be observed in humans after exposure to PCBs.These results indicated that exposure to PCBs mixtures mimicking some environmental situations, can lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of offspring produced by a female over a lifetime and disrupt behaviour. Potential ecological consequences are discussed with regard to reproduction, fitness and survival.