Chronic PFOS exposures induce life stage-specific behavioral deficits in adult zebrafish and produce malformation and behavioral deficits in F1 offspring

Jiangfei Chen, Siba R. Das, Jane La Du, Margaret M. Corvi, Chenglian Bai, Yuanhong Chen, Xiaojuan Liu, Guonian Zhu, Robert L. Tanguay, Qiaoxiang Dong, Changjiang Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is an organic contaminant that is ubiquitous in the environment. Few studies have assessed the behavioral effects of chronic PFOS exposure in aquatic organisms. The present study defined the behavioral effects of varying life span chronic exposures to PFOS in zebrafish. Specifically, zebrafish were exposed to control or 0.5μM PFOS during 1 to 20, 21 to 120, or 1 to 120 d postfertilization (dpf). Exposure to PFOS impaired the adult zebrafish behavior mode under the tapping stimulus. The movement speed of male and female fish exposed for 1 to 120 dpf was significantly increased compared with control before and after tapping, whereas in the groups exposed for 1 to 20 and 21 to 120 dpf, only the males exhibited elevated swim speed before tapping. Residues of PFOS in F1 embryos derived from parental exposure for 1 to 120 and 21 to 120 dpf were significantly higher than control, and F1 embryos in these two groups also showed high malformation and mortality. The F1 larvae of parental fish exposed to PFOS for 1 to 20 or 21 to 120 dpf exhibited a higher swimming speed than control larvae in a light-to-dark behavior assessment test. The F1 larvae derived from parental fish exposed to PFOS for 1 to 120 dpf showed a significantly lower speed in the light period and a higher speed in the dark period compared with controls. Although there was little PFOS residue in embryos derived from the 1- to 20-dpf parental PFOS-exposed group, the adverse behavioral effects on both adult and F1 larvae indicate that exposure during the first 21 dpf induces long-term neurobehaviorial toxicity. The authors' findings demonstrate that chronic PFOS exposure during different life stages adversely affects adult behavior and F1 offspring morphology, behavior, and survival.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)201-206
Number of pages6
JournalEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Volume32
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Behavior
  • Chronic exposure
  • Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
  • Zebrafish embryo

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