Chronic efffects of bisphenol an exposure on zebrafish (Danio rerio) at juvenile state

Abstract

Introduction: Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical, therefore some countries have banned the use of it in plastic containers for food storage and plastic toys for children. BPA can be found in natural waters with measured concentrations varying from ng/l to mg/l. However, in fact that the chronic ecotoxicology data obtained from aquatic animals for BPA exposure at these levels are quite few.

Methods: In this study zebrafish at 30 days of age were exposed to four variants 0, 1, 10 and 100 μg/l BPA along 60 days, which is the fasted growth period in zebrafish (Juvenile stage). At the end of the experiments, all fish weight and length were measured and their fresh livers were used for histological assessment.

Results: The results showed that weight and length of fish in 100 mg/l BPA group increased significantly as compared with that in the other experimental groups. Also only in this group, changes in hepatic morphology such as vacuolar number and size increasement, cytoplasmicand/or nuclear enlargement, glycogen reduction, lipid enhancement, were observed, but especially no significant inflammation. Fish in the other groups exposed to BPA concentrations <100mg/l had no change in all targeted endpoints as compared with that of the control.

Conclusion: Chronic exposure of 100mg/L BPA to zebrafish along the fast-growth period (Juvenile) caused increasement of weight and length, and altered morphology of hepatic cells, that may harm to liver functions.