Acute toxicity of selected chemicals in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) and its early life stages - the comparative study

We compared acute toxicities of eight chemicals in adult zebrafish with tho se in fish eggs. A very diverse susceptibility of the zebrafish species to the toxic substances of different classes was found. However, the LC50 valu es for adult fish and fish embryos for the individual chemicals tested were comparable and did not exceed the ranges of LC50 values for each particula r substance between various fish species recommended by the OECD guideline 203. The 96-h LC50s for adult fish and for fish embryos were as follows: ac etochlor 0.37 mg/L and 0.61 mg/L; acrylamide 59.0 mg/L and 160.0 mg/L; benz ene 560 mg/L and 320 mg/L; colchicine 18.5 mg/L and 39 mg/L; diethylene gly col 45000 mg/L and 30000 mg/L; diethylnitrosamine 560 mg/L and 1200 mg/L; m ethanol 22300 mg/L and 290 mg/L; Triton X-100 13 mg/L and 17 mg/L. In view of the increasing needs for chemical testing, experiments on adult fish nee d be replaced by tests on fish eggs, which can lead to the development of a time and cost saving screening method.