Effects of Degradation of Nonylphenol in Waste Water by Strong Ionization and Its Degradation Products on Sex Differentiation in Zebrafish

Abstract

Nonylphenol (NP), as a typical environmental endocrine disruptor, exists widely in the natural environment. It has a high toxicity with a low concentration. NP at the level of μg/L is enough to interfere with the sex differentiation of many aquatic organisms. The effects of degradation of NP in waste water by strong ionization (SID) and its degradation products on sex differentiation in zebrafish was studied in this paper. The NP solution of 5mg/L was degraded by SID device, and the 20d zebrafish were exposed to NP wastewater of different concentrations before and after degradation until their sexual maturity. The body length, body weight and sex differentiation ratio of zebrafish were recorded, and the sex hormone levels of zebrafish were extracted and detected. The gonadal glands of zebrafish were slices and analysed. This study found that the effects of nonylphenol on male zebrafish were much greater than that of female, and there was no significant positive correlation between toxicity and dose. In addition, the effects of 5mg/L NP wastewater degraded by SID for 60min were not significantly different from those of the control group, indicating that SID could effectively degrade NP and alleviate its biological toxicity.