Abstract
BackgroundAlthough listed in the Stockholm Convention, commercial Decabromodiphenyl ether (c-DecaBDE) is still being produced in many factories and used as a kind of flame retardants primarily in plastic polymers and textiles. Widespread use offered many exposure ways of its major ingredient, BDE-209, to humans and the environment. Most current studies of BDE-209 focused on the health effects and toxicity of thyroid disruption, oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, and reproductive function, but seldom spread light on the relationship between neurobehavioral toxicity and visual dysfunction. Using zebrafish larvae model, we hope to uncover the potential relationship between the neurobehavioral and visual effects after exposure to BDE-209.ResultsBDE-209 exposure could not induce the changes of locomotion and path angle in 5 days post fertilization (dpf) larvae; however, 5 μg/L BDE-209 exposure caused locomotor hyperactivity and more responsive turns at 7 dpf. The social activity of 50 μg/L exposure group was significantly higher than the control group at 6 dpf. Besides, 5 and 50 μg/L exposure caused the upregulation and downregulation of four cone opsin genes, respectively. The expression of rhodopsin gene was not influenced by both concentration exposures.ConclusionThe neurobehavioral effects induced by 5 μg/L BDE-209 exposure were consistent with the upregulation of four cone opsins in 7 dpf larvae. The low concentration of BDE-209 exposure caused the hyperactivity and more responsive turns of larvae possibly contributing to the disruption on the cone opsin expressions of larvae. Our results would provide the mechanism cue of neurobehavioral toxicity after BDE-209 exposure and call for more attention on the ecotoxicology studies of BDE-209.
Highlights
Listed in the Stockholm Convention, commercial Decabromodiphenyl ether (c-DecaBDE) is still being produced in many factories and used as a kind of flame retardants primarily in plastic polymers and textiles
Using zebrafish larvae model, we demonstrated the neurobehavioral toxicity and visual dysfunction of BDE-209, finding that the neurobehavioral effects induced by low-dose BDE-209 exposure were consistent with the upregulation of four cone opsins in 7 days post fertilization larvae
The classical intermittent light stimulus to larvae was adopted to study the potential relationship between the neurobehavioral toxicity and visual dysfunction induced by BDE-209, in which larvae performed a pattern of hyperactivity during the dark period followed by quiescent state during the light period [24]
Summary
Listed in the Stockholm Convention, commercial Decabromodiphenyl ether (c-DecaBDE) is still being produced in many factories and used as a kind of flame retardants primarily in plastic polymers and textiles. Most current studies of BDE-209 focused on the health effects and toxicity of thyroid disruption, oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, and reproductive function, but seldom spread light on the relationship between neurobehavioral toxicity and visual dysfunction. Studies on the health effects and toxicity of BDE-209, the highest brominated PBDEs, were not commonly seen than of other congeners. One study showed that reproductive toxicity in peripubertal mice offspring was induced by BDE-209 during lactation exposure [9]. In a neurobehavioral study using zebrafish as the test model, the F0 growth and reproduction of zebrafish were found to be disrupted by a long-term parental exposure to low-dose BDE-209 (0.959–959 μg/L), and accompanied with the behavioral of F1 larvae showed slow locomotion in normal conditions, and hyperactivity under light–dark stimulus [13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
