Ecotoxicological assessment of the micelle encapsulator F-500.
Surfactants are synthetic chemicals utilized as detergents and cleaning products or as dispersants and emulsifiers to face water pollution. In spite of this, due to their wide diffusion, surfactants can induce water and soil pollution, notably in developed countries, and can be toxic to organisms. Taking into account that the assessment of new compounds is mandatory in the European Union, in this research the ecotoxicity of fire-fighting micelle encapsulator F-500, newly utilized as dispersant in seawaters polluted with oil dumping, was evaluated. The assessment was carried out on a battery of test-organisms (freshwater algae, crustaceans, and larval fish; seawater algae, crustaceans, and bivalves; soil earthworms, and seeds) as well as on cultured cells (L-929 mouse fibroblasts), which were exposed to F-500 concentrations. According to the toxicity thresholds provided by GESAMP, F-500 resulted to be slightly or moderately toxic to all test-organisms, excluding the freshwater alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata that suffered highly toxic effects with IC50 values ranging from 0.21 to 0.49mg/L. The IC50 for mouse fibroblasts was 5.41µg/L after 24h treatment.
Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132 Genova, Italy. Electronic address: pane@unige.it.
Luigi
L
Pane
Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132 Genova, Italy. Electronic address: Gian.Luigi.Mariottini@unige.it.
Gian Luigi
GL
Mariottini
Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132 Genova, Italy. Electronic address: Elisabetta.Giacco@unige.it.
Elisabetta
E
Giacco
D000818:Animals; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000187:drug effects; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000187:drug effects; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000187:drug effects; D008823:Micelles; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D008823:Micelles; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Dispersants; F-500; Surfactants; Test-organisms