Teratogenicity of Dibutyl Phthalate and Polyvinyl Alcohol in Early Developmental Stages of Danio rerio

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are commonly used in manufacturing petroleum-based and biodegradable plastics. Despite being regarded as safe, these chemicals persist as organic pollutants during plastic degradation in aquatic environments and, thus, may pose risks to aquatic organisms and even humans. We performed a 96-h zebrafish embryo test to investigate the toxicity and teratogenicity of DBP and PVA at 25–500 μg/L and 1–3.0% concentrations, respectively. The results showed that exposure to DBP and PVA reduced the survival rate of zebrafish in a concentration and time-dependent manner. In PVA, pericardial edema and heart abnormalities were more common malformations than yolk sack edema and tail deformities in DBP. Reduced body length and hatching rate and elevated heart rates at 400–500 μg/L concentrations were observed in DBP-exposed zebrafish. The same trend was observed in PVA except that decreased heart rate was observed with increasing concentrations. We conclude that DBP and PVA are lethal and teratogenic, even at low concentrations, thus posing questions and concerns about the safety and health, environmental, and ecological risks associated with the use of these chemicals.