Based on the simulative exposure experiments of nitrobenzene to two small experimental fishes, Medaka (Oryzias latipes) and Chinese Rare Minnow (Gobiocypris rarus), it was found that nitrobenzene could decrease in a linear way in the static aquatic system. Both fishes could accumulate dose-related levels of nitrobenzene quickly and eliminate the compound rapidly when they were transferred to clean water. The Chinese rare minnow showed more sensitivity to the acute toxicity exposure of nitrobenzene than Medaka. Typical molecular biomarkers in oxidative defense system including superoxide dismu- tase (SOD), catalase (CAT) showed the chemical induced alterations. The changes of acetylcholi- nesterase (AChE) activities indicated that nitrobenzene might affect the normal neural function. Nitro- benzene exposure could also lead to obvious damaging effects on the target organs, such as gill and liver by hitopathological studies.
ZHOU QunFang1, FU JianJie1,2, MENG HaiZhen1,2, ZHU XueYan1,2, JIANG GuiBin1, ZHANG JianBin1, LIU JieMin2 & SHI GuoQing2 1 State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
There is large usage of polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs) especially for decabromodiphenyl ether(BDE-209, Deca-BDE) in controlling the risks of fire. The toxicological effects of PBDEs are worth being concerned about. Female SD rats were daily gavaged with BDE-209 ether at the dose of 100 mg/kg for 20 days. Histological observation was performed for the screening of the target organs for BDE-209 exposure. The distribution and metabolism of PBDEs in the exposed main organs were evidenced by HRGC-HRMS. Alterations of the endogenous metabolite concentrations in urine were investigated using metabonomic approaches based on1H NMR spectrum. Histopathological changes including serious edema in kidney, hepatocellular spotty necrosis and perivasculitis in liver indicated that BDE-209 caused potential influences on endogenous metabolism in the exposed liver and the kidney. BDE-209 was found to be highly accumulated in lipid, ovary, kidney and liver after 20 days' exposure. Occurrence of other lower brominated PBDEs in the rats demonstrated that reductive debromination process happened in vivo. Hydroxylated and methoxylated–BDEs, as metabolism products, were also detected in the rat tissues. A total of 12 different endogenous metabolites showed obvious alterations in urine from the exposed rats, indicating the disturbance of the corresponding internal biochemical processes induced by BDE-209 exposure. These findings in vivo suggested the potential health risk might be of concern due to the toxicological effects of BDE-209 as a ubiquitous compound in the environment.
