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Developmental toxicity of PAH mixtures in fish early life stages. Part II: adverse effects in Japanese medaka

  • PAHs and fish – Exposure monitoring and adverse effects – from molecular to individual level
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Abstract

In aquatic environments, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) mostly occur as complex mixtures, for which risk assessment remains problematic. To better understand the effects of PAH mixture toxicity on fish early life stages, this study compared the developmental toxicity of three PAH complex mixtures. These mixtures were extracted from a PAH-contaminated sediment (Seine estuary, France) and two oils (Arabian Light and Erika). For each fraction, artificial sediment was spiked at three different environmental concentrations roughly equivalent to 0.5, 4, and 10 μg total PAH g−1 dw. Japanese medaka embryos were incubated on these PAH-spiked sediments throughout their development, right up until hatching. Several endpoints were recorded at different developmental stages, including acute endpoints, morphological abnormalities, larvae locomotion, and genotoxicity (comet and micronucleus assays). The three PAH fractions delayed hatching, induced developmental abnormalities, disrupted larvae swimming activity, and damaged DNA at environmental concentrations. Differences in toxicity levels, likely related to differences in PAH proportions, were highlighted between fractions. The Arabian Light and Erika petrogenic fractions, containing a high proportion of alkylated PAHs and low molecular weight PAHs, were more toxic to Japanese medaka early life stages than the pyrolytic fraction. This was not supported by the toxic equivalency approach, which appeared unsuitable for assessing the toxicity of the three PAH fractions to fish early life stages. This study highlights the potential risks posed by environmental mixtures of alkylated and low molecular weight PAHs to early stages of fish development.

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Abbreviations

PAH:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

BSD:

Blue sac disease

dpf:

Days post fertilization

MELAc:

Medaka Embryo-Larval Assay with sediment contact exposure

dw:

Dry weight

ERS:

Egg rearing solution

ELS:

Early life stages

MEM:

Minimum Essential Medium

MN:

Micronucleus

PY:

Pyrolytic

HO:

Heavy oil

LO:

Light oil

TEF:

Toxic equivalent factor

TEQ:

Toxic equivalency

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the French National Agency for Research’s “Contaminant, Ecosystème et santé” program, as part of the ConPhyPoP (2009–002) research project. It was also included in the LABEX COTE cluster of excellence for continental and coastal ecosystems. Following the project, Florane Le Bihanic received PhD fellowship from “Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche”. The authors wish to thank CEDRE for providing oils, as well as Laure Landi for laboratory management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, University of Bordeaux, avenue des Facultés, 33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Florane Le Bihanic, Christelle Clérandeau, Karyn Le Menach, Bénédicte Morin, Hélène Budzinski & Jérôme Cachot

  2. IFREMER, Ecotoxicology laboratory, Place Gaby Coll, BP7, 17137, L’Houmeau, France

    Xavier Cousin

  3. INRA LPGP, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042, Rennes, France

    Xavier Cousin

Authors
  1. Florane Le Bihanic
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  2. Christelle Clérandeau
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  3. Karyn Le Menach
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  4. Bénédicte Morin
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  5. Hélène Budzinski
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  6. Xavier Cousin
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  7. Jérôme Cachot
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Correspondence to Jérôme Cachot.

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Responsible editor: Henner Hollert

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Le Bihanic, F., Clérandeau, C., Le Menach, K. et al. Developmental toxicity of PAH mixtures in fish early life stages. Part II: adverse effects in Japanese medaka. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 13732–13743 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2676-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2676-3

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