Toxicity of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a partial life-cycle test

Abstract

Toxicological effects of the widely used flame retardant, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) were assessed in a partial life-cycle test with zebrafish (Danio rerio). Exposure of adult fish during 30 days to water-borne TBBPA in nominal concentrations ranging from 0 (control) to 1.5 M was followed by exposure of the offspring in early life stages up to 47 days posthatching (dph) to the same concentrations. Adults exposed to 3 and 6 M showed severe disorientation and lethargy shortly after beginning of exposure and were euthanized. Because semistatic exposure resulted in fluctuating water concentrations, pooled fish samples were chemically analyzed for internal dose assessment. Egg production was decreased in fish exposed to TBBPA concentrations of 0.047 M and higher, and a critical effect level of 7.2 g/g lipid with a lower 5% confidence limit of 3.9 g/g lipid for 50% decreased egg production was calculated. Histology of adult ovaries indicated a relative increase of premature oocytes in two surviving females exposed to 1.5 M. Hatching of TBBPA-exposed larvae was decreased except in animals exposed to 0.375 M. In the highest exposure concentration, early posthatching mortality was high (81%) in larvae and the surviving juveniles showed a significant predominance of the female phenotype. Exposure of eggs from control parents up to 6 M TBBPA resulted in increasing malformation and pericardial fluid accumulation from 1.5 M; at higher concentrations, all embryos failed to hatch. The presented results indicate decreased reproductive success in zebrafish at environmentally relevant TBBPA concentrations.

Toxicity of the brominated flame retardant tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl) isocyanurate in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

“…This may have been caused by hepatic cellular swelling and fatty degeneration. This is consistent with observations of the effect of other BFRs on the liver [18,19]. We hypothesize that steatosis may be caused by: (1) an increase in fatty acid content in the hepatocytes; (2) over-synthesis of triglycercides; and (3) a decrease in apolipoprotein synthesis and inhibition of fat export.…”

Hormonal effects of tetrabromobisphenol A using a combination of in vitro and in vivo assays

“…In addition, some previous studies showed that TBBPA could result in toxic effects on fish at high concentrations (Kuiper et al, 2007a;Hu et al, 2009). In the present study, no treatment-related deaths and abnormal behavior were observed in mosquitofish exposed to TBBPA.…”

“…Moreover, when tested with the Microtox and algal assays, TBBPA was significantly less toxic than tribromobisphenol (TrBBPA), dibromobisphenol (DBBPA), monobromobisphenol A (MBBPA) and bisphenol A (BPA) (Debenest et al, 2010). However, in some other studies, TBBPA was found to have a high toxicity to aquatic organisms (Kuiper et al, 2007a;Hu et al, 2009). Due to the structural resemblance to thyroid hormones (i.e.…”

Thyroid disruption in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae: Different molecular response patterns lead to impaired eye development and visual functions

“…Previous studies have shown that TBBPA competes with T4 in its binding to the plasma-transporter protein, transthyretin (Hamers, 2006). TBBPA is acutely toxic in high concentrations and disrupts development and reproduction of zebrafish at low concentrations (Kuiper et al, 2006). Moreover, it impairs thyroid hormone-dependent metamorphosis in amphibian models (Fini et al, 2007;Jagnytsch et al, 2006).…”