Food colorant Sunset Yellow (E110) intervenes developmental profile of zebrafish (Danio rerio)

In this study, we tested the teratogenic/embryotoxic potentials of food colorant, Sunset Yellow (E110) using zebrafish embryos as a model. Laboratory-raised developing embryos of Danio rerio were exposed to graded concentrations (00, 0.1, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100 mm) of E110 from gastrulation stage (~6 hours post-fertilization [hpf]) up until hatching. The developmental trajectory of each embryo and post-hatched larva was traced from 24 to 168 hpf. The no observed effect concentration (NOEC), median effective concentration (EC₅₀ ), median lethal concentration (LC₅₀ ) and teratogenic index were determined. In the 0.1 mm E110-exposed embryos, the development proceeded as in controls (NOEC), while, exposure of embryos to 1-5 mm of E110 led to a decrease in body size, dry body mass of resultant larvae along with appearance of morphological deformities such as, microphthalmia, pericardial edema, yolk sac edema and spinal curvature. Larvae of 10-50 mm E110-exposed embryos exhibited increased cellular apoptosis in the cardiac region with significantly declined heartbeats and elevated mortality rates, in addition to the above-mentioned abnormalities. In the 100 mm exposure group, all embryos succumbed to death within 24 hpf. The NOEC and LC₅₀ recorded were at 0.1 and 42.57 mm respectively. EC₅₀ (96 hpf) recorded for pericardial edema and yolk sac edema was 19.41 and 39.84 mm with teratogenic index quotient 2.1 and 1.06 respectively The study provides direct evidence for the developmental toxicity/teratogenic potential of E110.