Mentor/s
Dr. Nicole M. Roy
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Di-n-Butyl phthalate (DBP) is a high production volume plasticizer added to increase the flexibility of synthetic polymers. DBP is found in a variety of everyday items like food packaging, cosmetics, cleaning materials, lubricants, waxes and insecticides. DBP readily leaches from products into soil and groundwater and its ubiquitous presence in the environmental has lead the European Commission to label DBP as a priority substance. Sediment and water analysis has noted high levels of DBP and the endocrine disrupting effects of DBP are well noted. Given the widespread uses of and exposure to DBP, studies on developmental toxicity are needed. To that end, we sought to investigate the developmental effects of DBP exposure during early development utilizing the zebrafish vertebrate model system. We treated gastrula staged embryos with increasing concentrations of DBP and noted concentration dependent defects in craniofacial development, but the effect was specific with no other developmental defects noted. Overall cranial size in DBP treated embryos, as measured vertically from cranial vault tip to jaw and horizontally from nose to pectoral fin, was significantly less then controls, but the intraocular distance was increased. Subsequent analysis of jaw bone development demonstrated loss of and/or disorganization of cartilage development with concomitant defects in vascular innervation and neuronal patterning. Furthermore, vascularization of the cranial cavity also became disorganized or completely lost. We conclude that DBP, at environmentally relevant doses, is toxic to craniofacial development in zebrafish.
College and Major available
Biology
Location
University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-20-2018 1:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-20-2018 3:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Di-n-Butyl phthalate or DBP, a Common Ingredient in Plastics, Induces Craniofacial Defects During Embryonic Development
University Commons
Di-n-Butyl phthalate (DBP) is a high production volume plasticizer added to increase the flexibility of synthetic polymers. DBP is found in a variety of everyday items like food packaging, cosmetics, cleaning materials, lubricants, waxes and insecticides. DBP readily leaches from products into soil and groundwater and its ubiquitous presence in the environmental has lead the European Commission to label DBP as a priority substance. Sediment and water analysis has noted high levels of DBP and the endocrine disrupting effects of DBP are well noted. Given the widespread uses of and exposure to DBP, studies on developmental toxicity are needed. To that end, we sought to investigate the developmental effects of DBP exposure during early development utilizing the zebrafish vertebrate model system. We treated gastrula staged embryos with increasing concentrations of DBP and noted concentration dependent defects in craniofacial development, but the effect was specific with no other developmental defects noted. Overall cranial size in DBP treated embryos, as measured vertically from cranial vault tip to jaw and horizontally from nose to pectoral fin, was significantly less then controls, but the intraocular distance was increased. Subsequent analysis of jaw bone development demonstrated loss of and/or disorganization of cartilage development with concomitant defects in vascular innervation and neuronal patterning. Furthermore, vascularization of the cranial cavity also became disorganized or completely lost. We conclude that DBP, at environmentally relevant doses, is toxic to craniofacial development in zebrafish.
