| Projecttitle | Development of a strategy to predict acute fish lethality using fish cell lines and fish embryos (CEllSens) |
|---|---|
| Investigators | Drs. N.I. Kramer, Angeles Rico Rico, T.L. Sinnige, F.J.M. Busser |
| Type of project | PhD/Post-doc project |
| Project leader | Dr. J.L. Hermens |
| Co-operation | Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), UFZ (Centre for the Environment Leipzig-Halle), Hydrotox GmbH, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo. |
| Time frame | December 2006 - December 2009 |
| Funded by | CEFIC-LRI (European Chemistry Industry Council - The Long Range Research Initiative) and UK-Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) |
| Short description | |
| Aim |
Develop a testing strategy to predict acute fish lethality using fish cell lines and fish embryos. |
| Methods |
Sixty industrial chemicals with different modes of toxicity and physicochemical properties are tested for toxicity in both the zebrafish embryo test and a battery of rainbow trout fish cell assays measuring different toxic endpoints in multiple cell types. Nominal and free concentrations of exposure medium is analysed to account for differences in bioavailability. |
| Details |
The ethical and economical costs associated with the fish acute toxicity bioassay to test for environmental risks of chemicals have prompted researchers to look for alternatives. Two potential alternatives are the zebrafish embryo test (DarT) and the cytotoxicity assay with fish cell lines, where embryos and cells are tested for vitality after exposure to a test compound. Good correlations have been found between embryo, cell and fish acute toxicity data. However, for regulatory agencies to accept these tests as alternatives to the fish bioassay, variability and sensitivity of these alternative tests need to be improved. Possible reasons for this high variability and low sensitivity include the fact that a single cell line, for example, will always have a limited number of potential target sites for toxicity in comparison to the whole adult organism and bioavailability of the test compound may be different between the test systems. |
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