Non-target effects of antifouling agents on mortality, hatching success, and acetylcholinesterase activity in the brine shrimp Artemia salina

Abstract

Many commercial shipping, leisure crafts, and aquaculture facilities employ antifouling agents to control biofouling/biocorrosion by keeping their metallic hulls clear, but most agents have been known to cause negative effects such as pollution in coastal marine ecosystem. In this study, we measured the deleterious effects of three antifouling agents (i.e. tributyltin; TBT, diuron, irgarol 1051) on nauplii mortality, acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC3.1.1.7) activity, and hatching success of cysts in the brine shrimp Artemia salina. Lethal concentration 50 (LC50) was measured using A. salina nauplii in time-course (i.e. 24, 48, and 72 h) to select proper concentrations for the suite of AChE assays. The 24 h-LC50 toxicities of three antifouling agents ranged for mortality were as follows: TBT 0.208 μg/L, diuron 10261 μg/L, and irgarol 1051 982 μg/L. Selected doses within the LC50 value of each antifouling agent significantly inhibited AChE activity for 24 h, and newly hatched nauplii were more sensitive than 48 h old nauplii. Furthermore, the exposure conditions dose-dependently reduced the hatching rate of A. salina cysts. We conclude that three antifouling agents tested in this study may have a toxic cholinergic effect on nauplii through AChE inhibition, in addition to ecotoxicity on cyst hatching. © 2017, Korean Society of Environmental Risk Assessment and Health Science and Springer Science+Business Media B.V.