title: Toxicity and genotoxicity of the quaternary ammonium compound benzalkonium chloride (BAC) using Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia as model systems.
abstract: The toxicity and genotoxicity of the cationic surfactant benzalkonium chloride (BAC) were studied using Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia as model systems. Acute and chronic toxicity testing were performed according to the international standard guidelines and the genotoxicity was detected through the comet assay on cells from whole organisms in vivo exposed. Acute effects occurred at concentrations in the order of tens of μg/L in D. magna and hundreds of μg/L in C. dubia. Chronic effects were found at one order of magnitude less than short-term effects maintaining the same difference in sensitivity between D. magna and C. dubia. BAC induced relevant DNA damage, in both cladocerans; the lowest adverse effect levels were 0.4 and 4 ng/L for D. magna and C. dubia, respectively. As these effective concentrations are far lower than BAC occurrence in surface waters (units of μg/L) a concerning environmental risk cannot be excluded. The findings of this study showed that D. magna and C. dubia, could be used as model organisms to detect acute and chronic toxicity as well as genotoxicity at the whole organism level.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavorgna
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Brigida
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: D'Abrosca
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parrella
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100 Caserta, Italy. Electronic address: marina.isidori@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Isidori
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D033361:Cladocera; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D003621:Daphnia; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests / Q000379:methods; D036401:Toxicity Tests, Chronic / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Benzalkonium chloride; Cationic surfactants; Ceriodaphnia dubia; Daphnia magna; Genotoxicity; Toxicity