Developmental neurotoxicity of organophosphate flame retardants in early life stages of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Because brominated flame retardants are being banned or phased out worldwide, organophosphate flame retardants have been used as alternatives on a large scale and have thus become ubiquitous environmental contaminants; this raises great concerns about their environmental health risk and toxicity. Co...

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Published in:Environmental toxicology and chemistry 2016-12, Vol.35 (12), p.2931-2940
Main Authors: Sun, Liwei, Tan, Hana, Peng, Tao, Wang, Sisi, Xu, Wenbin, Qian, Haifeng, Jin, Yuanxiang, Fu, Zhengwei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylcholinesterase - genetics
Acetylcholinesterase - metabolism
Animals
Aquatic ecosystems
Behavioral toxicology
Body Size - drug effects
Embryo toxicity test
Embryo, Nonmammalian - drug effects
Environmental regulations
Fire resistant materials
Fish
Fish Proteins - genetics
Fish Proteins - metabolism
Flame Retardants - toxicity
Gene transcriptional analysis
Heart Rate - drug effects
Locomotion - drug effects
Neurotoxicity
Organophosphate
Organophosphates - toxicity
Organophosphorus Compounds - toxicity
Oryzias - growth & development
Oryzias - physiology
Oryzias latipes
Toxicity Tests
Transcription, Genetic - drug effects
Water pollution
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Summary:Because brominated flame retardants are being banned or phased out worldwide, organophosphate flame retardants have been used as alternatives on a large scale and have thus become ubiquitous environmental contaminants; this raises great concerns about their environmental health risk and toxicity. Considering that previous research has identified the nervous system as a sensitive target, Japanese medaka were used as an aquatic organism model to evaluate the developmental neurotoxicity of 4 organophosphate flame retardants: triphenyl phosphate, tri‐n‐butyl phosphate, tris(2‐butoxyethyl) phosphate, and tris(2‐chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). The embryo toxicity test showed that organophosphate flame retardant exposure could decrease hatchability, delay time to hatching, increase the occurrence of malformations, reduce body length, and slow heart rate. Regarding locomotor behavior, exposure to the tested organophosphate flame retardants (except TCEP) for 96 h resulted in hypoactivity for medaka larvae in both the free‐swimming and the dark‐to‐light photoperiod stimulation test. Changes of acetylcholinesterase activity and transcriptional responses of genes related to the nervous system likely provide a reasonable explanation for the neurobehavioral disruption. Overall, the present study clearly demonstrates the developmental neurotoxicity of various organophosphate flame retardants with very different potency and contribute to the determination of which organophosphate flame retardants are appropriate substitutes, as well as the consideration of whether regulations are reasonable and required. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2931–2940. © 2016 SETAC
ISSN:0730-7268
1552-8618
DOI:10.1002/etc.3477