Publication
Title
Sublethal effect concentrations for nonpolar narcosis in the zebrafish embryo
Author
Abstract
Nonpolar narcosis, also known as baseline toxicity, has been described as the minimal toxicity that an organic chemical may elicit based on its lipophilicity. Although lethal effects of narcosis-inducing chemicals (NICs) have been thoroughly investigated, knowledge of sublethal effects is still very limited. We investigated the effects of 3 well-known NICs (phenanthrene, 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene, and pentachlorobenzene) on a variety of organismal endpoints (malformations, swim bladder inflation, respiration, heart rate, swimming activity, and turning angles), which can be plausibly linked to narcosis in zebrafish embryos. Baseline toxicity recorded as mortality is typically observed in similar exposure ranges in a wide variety of species including fish, corresponding to a chemical activity range between 0.01 and 0.1. In the present study, we found that sublethal effects occurred at concentrations approximately 5 times below lethal concentrations. Altered swimming activity and impaired swim bladder inflation were the most sensitive endpoints occurring at exposure levels below the generally accepted threshold for baseline toxicity for 2 out of 3 compounds. Overall, most effective exposure levels across the sublethal endpoints and compounds did fall within the range typically associated with baseline toxicity, and deviations were generally limited to a factor 10. Although there could be benefit in adding sublethal endpoints to toxicity tests, such as the fish embryo acute toxicity (FET) test, based on the present sublethal endpoints and available evidence from our and other studies, the underestimation of toxicity as a result of the sole assessment of mortality as an endpoint in an FET test may be limited for narcosis.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Environmental toxicology and chemistry. - New York, N.Y., 1982, currens
Publication
New York, N.Y. : 2021
ISSN
0730-7268 [print]
1552-8618 [online]
DOI
10.1002/ETC.5170
Volume/pages
40 :10 (2021) , p. 2802-2812
ISI
000693190500001
Pubmed ID
34288096
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Unravelling the non-specific mechanisms underlying non-polar narcotic toxicity: mitochondrial effects.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.10.2021
Last edited 15.01.2025
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