Development of a flow-through system for the fish embryo toxicity test (FET) with the zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Establishment of a three-step method to evaluate effects of chemicals on development of zebrafish embryo/larvae

“…Therefore, embryos of zebrafish have frequently been used for screening for toxic potencies of chemicals, where molecular responses have been used to understand mechanisms of toxic and indication of possible adverse and long-term effects and changes in morphology during development have been observed to be correlated with longer-term survival and fecundity (Rubinstein, 2006;Thienpont et al, 2011). Recently, tests to determine toxic potencies to embryos have been a mandatory component in routine testing of whole effluents in Germany and have already been standardized internationally (DIN, 2001;Lammer et al, 2009a), and core endpoints in zebrafish embryos have been developed. Environmental stress caused by pollution with chemicals often has direct effects on physiological states of individuals.…”

“…8023). Maintenance of adult zebrafish and collection of embryos were performed as described previously (Lammer et al, 2009a;Liu et al, 2013). CdCl 2 was used as a model chemical since a previous study reported that exposure to the chemical caused altered axial curvature, ocular edema and submaxillary edema in zebrafish embryos (King-Heiden et al, 2009).…”

“…Portions of these chemicals are inevitably released into the environment during production, use, recycling or disposal and have potentials to cause adverse effects on wildlife or humans (Lammer et al, 2009a). To control possible risks caused by new or existing substances in the environment developed in some more developed and industrialized countries, programs to manage use of chemicals have been developed and regulations promulgated.…”

“…These programs include the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) High Production Volume Program (HPV), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) HPV Challenge Program, the Canadian categorization of the Domestic Substances List and the European Union REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) initiative (Lammer et al, 2009b). In these programs, a set of ecotoxicological tests are performed to develop thresholds or reference concentrations and relative potencies for use in assessing hazards and exposure risks of chemicals (Lammer et al, 2009a). Among those tests required, acute lethality of fish is a mandatory component of all the programs (OECD, 1992).…”

“…Besides reliability and reproducibility, results of tests using embryos of fishes are statistically correlated with lethality of older fishes (R 2 ¼ 0.854) (Ratte and Hammers-Wirtz, 2003). Determination of lethality of fish embryos is already a mandatory component in routine whole effluent testing in Germany and has already been standardized internationally (DIN, 2001;Lammer et al, 2009a). Furthermore, beyond their use in acute lethality tests, fish embryos are excellent models for identifying mechanisms of toxic action and are useful indicators of longer-term effects (Scholz et al, 2008).…”