Assessing developmental toxicity and estrogenic activity of halogenated bisphenol A on zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Halogenated bisphenol A (H-BPAs), widely used in industrial production, have been identified in various environmental matrices and detected in human serum and breast milk. The persistence and prevalence of H-BPAs in the environment underscore the need to in-depth understand their adverse effects to humans and other organisms. In the present study, zebrafish embryos/larvae were used as models to investigate the developmental toxicities of three H-BPAs, namely tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA), and bisphenol AF (BPAF). The half lethal concentration (LC50) values indicated that the rank order of toxicities of the chemicals were TCBPA>TBBPA>BPAF. Three H-BPAs exposure resulted in a variety of developmental lesions in the embryos/larvae, such as a delay in time to hatch, edema, and hemorrhage. The estrogenic activities of H-BPAs were determined by means of in vivo vitellogenin (vtg) assay and in vitro MVLN assay. Here only BPAF specifically shows a stronger estrogenic activity than BPA both in in vivo and in vitro. These data suggest that TCBPA, TBBPA, and BPAF are more potent toxicants than BPA, and indicate that further research of the mechanisms on their toxicities is required.