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Developmental Toxicity of Louisiana Crude Oiled Sediment to Zebrafish - Abstract
Citation:
Hemmer, Becky, CrystalR Jackson, J. Krzykwa, M. Barron, AND Sandy Raimondo. Developmental Toxicity of Louisiana Crude Oiled Sediment to Zebrafish - Abstract. Presented at SETAC North America 34th Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 17 - 21, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Poster presentation of Spatial fish laboratory work on developmental toxicity of Louisiana sweet crude oil
Description:
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cause a number of developmental abnormalities in developing fish embryos, which has been primarily demonstrated through water-accommodated fractions. PAH-bound sediment is a more ecologically relevant route of exposure to many developing fish embryos. We conducted a series of assays to assess the extent of developmental abnormalities in fish embryos exposed to sediment spiked with weathered Louisiana Sweet Crude (LSC) oil. Reference sediment (Choctawhatchee Bay, FL) was spiked at nominal concentrations of 1900, 3800, 7500, 15000, 30000 mg/kg. Three separate assays were conducted using the zebrafish (Danio rerio), each of which consisted of the five nominal treatments, one sediment control, and one water control. For each assay, one embryo was loaded into each well of a sterile 12-well plate, with treatments randomly placed throughout for a total of 27 replicate embryos per treatment. Observations for development, abnormalities, mortalities, and hatch were made daily for 4 days. At 48 hours, the most commonly observed abnormality was developmental delays, whereas by 96 hr edemas (pericardial, yolk sac) and musculoskeletal (scoliosis) deformities were most common. A reproducible dose-response was observed for all three tests and lowest observable effects concentrations for all developmental abnormalities are reported. Concentrations causing effects and lethality to 20% and 50% of individuals (EC20, EC50, LC20, and LC50) are reported for 48 and 96 hour time periods of each test. Additional methods were developed to test the phototoxicity of LSC-spiked sediment to fish larvae, as well as extending the sediment embryo development assay to the estuarine species, the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus).