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Zebrafish as a Vertebrate Model to Assess Sublethal Effects and Health Risks of Emerging Pollutants

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Book cover Emerging Organic Contaminants and Human Health

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 20))

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Abstract

Zebrafish is developing as a major model for assessing toxicity of pharmaceuticals, drugs, and pollutants. Besides its applications in regulatory toxicity and drug discovery, its characteristics make it a unique system to analyze sublethal toxic effects that only can be studied applying holistic, in toto approaches. Here, we show some of these analyses, in which complex organic systems (neuronal, muscular, sensorial, digestive, thyroid), as well as the embryonic development, show specific effects upon exposure to pharmaceuticals and several environmentally relevant substances, including nanoparticles and other emerging pollutants for which no adequate toxicological profile is still available. These analyses are especially relevant for embryo risk evaluation, given the close similarity of the early stages of the development in all vertebrates, including humans.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grants CGL2008-01898/BOS and CTM2011-30471-C02-01), the INIA (grant RTA2009-00074-00-00), the Generalitat de Catalunya (grant 2009 SGR 924) and European Union (FP7 EU Project Managing the Risks of Nanomaterials-MARINA). E.O. acknowledges a predoctoral fellowship from the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/48244/2008). B.T. acknowledges a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FPU AP2006-01324).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDÆA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 1808034, Barcelona, Spain

    Demetrio Raldúa, Carlos Barata, Marta Casado, Melissa Faria, Alba Olivares, Eva Oliveira, Sergi Pelayo, Benedicte Thienpont & Benjamin Piña

  2. Department of Environment, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Ctra. de la Coruña Km 7, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    José María Navas

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  1. Demetrio Raldúa
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  2. Carlos Barata
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Correspondence to Benjamin Piña .

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    Damià Barceló

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Raldúa, D. et al. (2011). Zebrafish as a Vertebrate Model to Assess Sublethal Effects and Health Risks of Emerging Pollutants. In: Barceló, D. (eds) Emerging Organic Contaminants and Human Health. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry(), vol 20. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2011_124

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