title: Assessing Aromatic-Hydrocarbon Toxicity to Fish Early Life Stages Using Passive-Dosing Methods and Target-Lipid and Chemical-Activity Models.
abstract: Aromatic hydrocarbons (AH) are known to impair fish early life stages (ELS). However, poorly defined exposures often confound ELS-test interpretation. Passive dosing (PD) overcomes these challenges by delivering consistent, controlled exposures. The objectives of this study were to apply PD to obtain 5 d acute embryo lethality and developmental data and 30 d chronic embryo-larval survival and growth-effects data using zebrafish with different AHs; to analyze study and literature toxicity data using target-lipid (TLM) and chemical-activity (CA) models; and to extend PD to a mixture and test the assumption of AH additivity. PD maintained targeted exposures over a concentration range of 6 orders of magnitude. AH toxicity increased with log Kow up to pyrene (5.2). Pericardial edema was the most sensitive sublethal effect that often preceded embryo mortality, although some AHs did not produce developmental effects at concentrations causing mortality. Cumulative embryo-larval mortality was more sensitive than larval growth, with acute-to-chronic ratios of <10. More-hydrophobic AHs did not exhibit toxicity at aqueous saturation. The relationship and utility of the TLM-CA models for characterizing fish ELS toxicity is discussed. Application of these models indicated that concentration addition provided a conservative basis for predicting ELS effects for the mixture investigated.
authors.affiliation: Toxicology & Environmental Sciences Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , 1545 US Highway 22 East, Annandale, New Jersey 08801, United States.
authors.forename: Josh D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.affiliation: Toxicology & Environmental Sciences Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , 800 Bell Street, Houston, Texas 77002, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Parkerton
authors.affiliation: Toxicology & Environmental Sciences Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , 1545 US Highway 22 East, Annandale, New Jersey 08801, United States.
authors.forename: Aaron D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Redman
authors.affiliation: Toxicology & Environmental Sciences Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. , 1545 US Highway 22 East, Annandale, New Jersey 08801, United States.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Letinski
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences Department, Rutgers University , 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States.
authors.forename: Keith R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D007814:Larva; D008055:Lipids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D008055:Lipids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical