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Sunscreen chemicals in water may harm fish embryos

Sunscreen chemicals in water may harm fish embryos

6 years ago
Anonymous $oIHRkISgaL

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-sunscreen-chemicals-fish-embryos.html

Leung and his team began by analyzing the levels of nine common UV filters in surface waters of Shenzhen, China —- a rapidly growing city with more than 20 popular recreational beaches. They found seven of the nine chemicals in Shenzhen waters, including public beaches, a harbor and, surprisingly, a reservoir and tap water. Next, the researchers moved to the lab where they fed zebrafish, a common model organism, brine shrimp that had been exposed to three of the most prevalent chemicals, alone or in mixtures. Although the adult fish had no visible problems, their offspring showed abnormalities. These outcomes were mostly observed for longer-term exposures (47 days) and elevated levels of the chemicals (higher than what is likely to occur in the environment.) The effects of different UV filters and mixtures of these substances varied in often-unpredictable ways, suggesting that further studies are needed to determine how these chemicals impact living systems.

                                                            
                                    
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> More information:

                                    "Joint Effects of Multiple UV Filters on Zebrafish Embryo Development" Environmental Science & Technology (2018). pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.8b02418