Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Eleutheroembryo-Based Procedure for Assessing Bioaccumulation

Abstract

This paper reports on the development and preliminary evaluation of a new bioaccumulation test based on the use of zebrafish <i>(Danio renio)</i> eleutheroembryos (72 h after hatching, corresponding to 144 h post fertilization, hpf) as an alternative to adult fish-based procedures for regulatory purposes regarding REACH application. The proposed test accomplished the OECD 305 guideline and consists of a 48 h uptake period followed by a 24 h depuration step. Bioaccumulation experiments were performed for a selected of hyper hydrophobic chemicals (log <i>K</i>_ow> 7.6), that is, PCB 136 and PBDE 154 at two concentration levels corresponding roughly to 1% and 0.1% the chemicaĺs LC₅₀(nominal concentrations of 4.0 and 12.0 μg/L for PCB 136, and 1.0 and 5.0 μg/L PBDE 154, respectively). Toxicokinetic models were used to calculate the bioconcentration factors (BCFs) based on of the chemical concentrations found in the contaminated eleutheroembryos and their surrounding media. The experimentally determined accumulation profiles show bioaccumulation by zebrafish eleutheroembryos of both chemicals, and that the process is more complex than simple water–lipid partition. Calculated log BCFs using a first-order accumulation model­(3.97 and 3.73 for PCB 136, and 3.95 and 4.29 for PBDE 154) were in the range of those previously reported in the literature. The suitability of this new nonprotected life stage bioaccumulation protocol for BCF estimation was evaluated by application to widely divergent micropollutants with different accumulation mechanisms. The results were compared with those in the MITE-NITE database for adult rice fish (<i>Oryzias latipes</i>)