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Toxicity of the azo dyes Acid Red 97 and Bismarck Brown Y to Western clawed frog (Silurana tropicalis)

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Abstract

Azo compounds are used in a variety of industrial applications, such as textile colorant. Azo dyes have been found to contaminate aquatic environments and it has been shown that these compounds could potentially be toxic or induce endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms. However, there are few data available on the toxicity of these dyes, specifically Acid Red 97 (AR97) and Bismarck Brown Y (BBY). The aim of this study was to determine the toxicity and the endocrine-disrupting properties of AR97 and BBY in frogs. As fugacity modeling predicted that both compounds would sorb to sediment, sediment exposures were performed using a geometric range of concentrations (0, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 ppm). Both AR97 and BBY dyes were not lethal to Silurana tropicalis embryos; however, BBY significantly induced malformations. Gene expression analysis of oxidative stress and mutagen-related genes was performed in BBY-treated larvae. There were significant two-fold increases of the tumor-suppressing protein p53 and heat shock protein 70 mRNA at 1,000 ppm suggesting that BBY induces cellular stress in early S. tropicalis development. Transcripts of the heat shock protein 90 did not change. Furthermore, reproductive-related genes were assessed and a 2.1-fold change was observed in the mRNA of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein while steroid 5 alpha-reductase type 2 and androgen receptor transcript levels did not vary among treatments. In conclusion, high concentrations of BBY lead to increased developmental defects in frog embryogenesis and early larval development.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Danielle Milani (Environment Canada) for collecting sediment in Lake Erie, and Diana Flood, Sonja Bissegger, and Christopher Withers (Royal Military College of Canada) for their aid during the sediment exposure, sample preparation and data collection. This work was supported by the Science and Risk Assessment Directorate (2011-13) of Environment Canada to SdS and VSL, and by the NSERC Discovery Grant to VSL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Department, Royal Military College of Canada, P. O. Box 17000, Stn Forces, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7K 7B4

    Jeriel J. Soriano, Justine Mathieu-Denoncourt, Grant Norman & Valérie S. Langlois

  2. Wildlife and Landscape Science Directorate, Environment Canada, Burlington, ON, Canada, L7R 4A6

    Shane R. de Solla

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  1. Jeriel J. Soriano
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  2. Justine Mathieu-Denoncourt
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  4. Shane R. de Solla
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  5. Valérie S. Langlois
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Correspondence to Valérie S. Langlois.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Soriano, J.J., Mathieu-Denoncourt, J., Norman, G. et al. Toxicity of the azo dyes Acid Red 97 and Bismarck Brown Y to Western clawed frog (Silurana tropicalis). Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 3582–3591 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2323-4

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