Comparative Toxicity of 3-5 Ringed Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Skeletal Development in Zebrafish Embryos and the Possible Reason.

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are pervasive pollutants in the environment. To compare the developmental toxicity of PAHs with different ring numbers to fish embryos, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), pyrene (Pyr) and phenanthrene (Phe) were selected as the representatives of 3, 4 and 5-ringed PAHs, and fertilized embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 5 nM PAHs for 72h. The PAH-treated embryos showed defects in craniofacial cartilage. The order of toxicity to the development of craniofacial cartilage was Phe > Pyr > BaP. The transcription of genes related to the development of craniofacial cartilage was downregulated. The GC-MS/MS detection showed that bioaccumulation of BaP in the exposed embryos was two orders of magnitude lower than that of Phe and Pyr. It is suggested that the more uptake and accumulation of Phe and Pyr could be one of the reasons for their greater toxicity to development in early stage embryos.