Meeting Abstract
Arsenic (As) is a metalloid commonly present in the aquatic environment as a result of natural and anthropogenic activities. It is a known neurotoxin that causes cognitive deficits, neuropathy, and altered brain anatomy. Current literature on As exposure and behavior in the developmental and toxicological zebrafish model has focused on midrange doses often above those found regularly in the environment. In this experiment 48 hours post fertilization zebrafish larvae were exposed to environmentally relevant levels of sodium arsenite at 0, 0.1, 1.0, or 10 µM for eight days. At the end of the treatment larvae were recorded using the DanioVision system for 30 minutes each during acclimation, lights on, and lights off.. Cumulative time spent in inner and outer zones, swim velocity, and total distance covered were measured and analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. There were no significant differences in any of the tested measures suggestive of no neurotoxic effect at low level exposure. The exposure levels fell both under and above the EPA’s and the World Health Organization’s As guideline of 10 ppb (0.13 µM), and were well within surface water and groundwater levels commonly found in many parts of the United States. These results provide evidence that short-term, low-level As exposure may not influence early development neurotoxic behavioral outcomes in fish.
