Background

Fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether-7 (AEO-7), a non-ionic surfactant, has recently been receiving extensive attention from the ocean pipeline industry for its ability to inhibit corrosion. However, the present lack of information concerning the potential environmental toxicity of AEO-7, especially towards aquatic organisms, is a major impediment to its wider application. Here, we assess potential adverse effects of AEO-7 on zebrafish embryos employing a variety of assays, including (i) a mortality/survival assay which allowed the median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) to be calculated; (ii) a teratogenicity assay on the basis of which the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) was determined; and (iii) specific assays of cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity (based on locomotion), hematopoietic toxicity (the level of hemoglobin as revealed by o-dianisidine staining) and hepatotoxicity (liver steatosis and yolk retention examined by staining with Oil Red O).

Results

AEO-7 caused mortality with a calculated LC₅₀ of 15.35 μg/L, which, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Acute Toxicity Rating scale, should be considered “super toxic”. Although at its NOEC (0.8 μg/L), there were no signs of significant teratogenicity, cardiotoxicity, or hemopoiesis toxicity, 3.2 µg/L AEO-7 exerted dramatic detrimental effects on organ development.

Conclusion

On the basis of these findings, we recommend that the industrial usage and environmental impact of AEO-7 be re-evaluated and strictly monitored by environmental and public health organizations.

中文翻译：

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AEO-7表面活性剂“超级有毒”，并在斑马鱼胚胎中引起严重的心脏，肝脏和运动损伤

背景

非离子型表面活性剂脂肪醇聚氧乙烯醚-7（AEO-7）最近因其抑制腐蚀的能力而受到海洋管道行业的广泛关注。但是，目前缺乏有关AEO-7潜在的环境毒性，尤其是对水生生物的潜在环境毒性的信息，这是其广泛应用的主要障碍。在这里，我们采用多种测定方法评估AEO-7对斑马鱼胚胎的潜在不利影响，其中包括（i）允许平均致死浓度的死亡率/存活率测定法（LC ₅₀）进行计算；（ii）致畸试验，在此基础上确定未观察到的作用浓度（NOEC）；（iii）心脏毒性，神经毒性（基于运动），造血毒性（o- dianisidine染色所显示的血红蛋白水平）和肝毒性（通过油红O染色检查的肝脏脂肪变性和卵黄保留）的特异性测定。

结果

AEO-7引起的死亡，计算得出的LC ₅₀为15.35μg/ L，根据美国鱼类和野生动物服务局（USFWS）急性毒性评级量表，应将其视为“超毒性”。尽管在其NOEC（0.8μg/ L）下，没有明显的致畸性，心脏毒性或造血毒性的迹象，但3.2μg/ L AEO-7对器官发育产生了显着的有害作用。

结论

根据这些发现，我们建议由环境和公共卫生组织对AEO-7的工业用途和对环境的影响进行重新评估和严格监控。