Comprehensive evaluation of the toxicity of the flame retardant (decabromodiphenyl ether) in a bioindicator fish (Gambusia affinis)

PÉREZ-IGLESIAS, JUAN MANUEL; GONZÁLEZ, PATRICIA; CALDERÓN, MIRIAN ROXANA; NATALE, GUILLERMO SEBASTIÁN; ALMEIDA, CÉSAR AMÉRICO

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Año: 2022

0944-1344

In recent years, concerns have increased about the adverse effects on health and the environment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), especially BDE-209, the most widely PBDE used globally. These pollutants derive from e-waste and present different adverse effects on biota. In this work, a toxicological study on mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) using BDE-209 (2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5,′5′,6,6′-decabromodiphenyl ether) was carried out. Acute toxicity bioassays were conducted with daily renewal of solutions, using different concentrations of environmental relevance, ranged between 10 and 100 μg L−1 of BDE-209. At 48 and 96 h of exposure, several parameters were evaluated, such as mortality, individual activity (swimming), biochemical activity (catalase; thiobarbituric acid–reactive substances; and acetylcholinesterase), and cytotoxic responses (micronucleus frequencies). In addition, integrated biomarker response and multivariate analyses were conducted to study the correlation of biomarkers. The calculated Lethal Concentration-50 remained constant after all exposure times (24 to 96 h), being the corresponding value 27.79 μg L−1 BDE-209. Furthermore, BDE-209 induced effects on the swimming activity of this species in relation to acetylcholine, since BDE-209 increased, producing oxidative damage at the biochemical level and genotoxicity after 48 h of exposure to 10 and 25 μg L−1 BDE-209. The results indicate that BDE-209 has biochemical, cytotoxic, neurotoxic, and genotoxic potential on G. affinis. In addition, mosquitofish could be used as a good laboratory model to evaluate environmental stressors since they could represent a risk factor for Neotropical species.