Assessment of 4,4’-Dihydroxy Benzophenone Induced Developmental, Cardiac and Neurotoxic Effects on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Embryo-Larvae

The increasing use of organic UV filters, such as benzophenone (BP-3) and its derivatives have raised concern regarding their ecotoxicological effects on the aquatic environment. 4,4’-Dihydroxybenzophenone (DHBP), a derivative of benzophenone is used in many cosmetics products to protect the skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation. DHBP has been detected in the environment and become an emerging contaminant of concern. However, no work was done on DHBP in previous years. The aim of the present study was to examine the embryo-larval toxicity attributed to DHBP, utilizing zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model after exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of this compound. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to DHBP at concentrations of 200, 400, 800 µg/L at different time intervals i.e. 24, 48, 72 and 96hours post fertilization (hpf) to examine developmental toxicity, cardiac toxicity, neurotoxicity and effects on growth parameters. DHBP significantly elevated the mortality rate and depleted the hatchability rate in a concentration and time dependent manner at different exposed groups when compared to control group. Heart rate was found to be significantly increased in DHBP exposed groups when compared to control. The neurotoxicity marker i.e. spontaneous tail coiling movement was found to be significantly decreased in DHBP exposed larvae compared to control