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Updated: May 14, 2025
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Published on: February 5, 2020
Advanced oxidation processes for the degradation of tralomethrin: Impacts on zebrafish embryonic development
Yueping Huang1, Rongkai Bao1, Shanshan Guo1
1Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Fujian Molecular Medicine, Key Laboratory of Xiamen Marine and Gene Drugs, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, PR China.
Abstract:
Tralomethrin (TRA), a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, has long-term adverse effects on aquatic organisms, highlighting the necessity for effective methods to mitigate its toxicity. This study investigated the degradation efficiency of TRA using ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ozone (O3) oxidation, and a combined O3/UV process. Unlike previous studies that primarily focused on degradation efficiency, this research not only compares the performance of UV, O3, and O3/UV processes but also evaluates the detoxification effects of their degradation products using zebrafish embryos. The results showed that the UV irradiation alone exhibited a low UV254 removal rate (20.69 %) but achieved the highest debromination efficiency (40.51 %), leading to the formation of less toxic degradation products. In contrast, both O3 and the combined O3/UV processes attained higher removal rates but exhibited lower debromination efficiencies compared to UV irradiation alone. Acute toxicity assessment demonstrated a significant decrease in the toxicity of TRA to zebrafish post-treatment. Specifically, the UV irradiation and O3/UV treatments resulted in enhanced detoxification compared to the parent compound TRA, as evidenced by normal hatching rates and lower rates of malformation, as well as improved gene expression profiles and normal movement patterns in zebrafish embryos. The zebrafish toxicity assay further revealed that UV irradiation and the combined O3/UV process fully restored the normal expression of neural markers (slc6a3 and th), suggesting its superior safety as a detoxification strategy. The optimal processing time for UV irradiation to achieve efficient TRA degradation was identified as 10 min, and the photodegradation pathways were identified. These findings underscore the practical applicability of UV-based processes in wastewater treatment, providing a promising strategy for reducing TRA contamination risks to aquatic ecosystems.
