Towards the Development of Standardized Bioassays for Corals: Acute Toxicity of the UV Filter Benzophenone-3 to Scleractinian Coral Larvae

• Published in: Toxics (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 5; p. 244
• Main Authors: Miller, Ingo B, Moeller, Mareen, Kellermann, Matthias Y, Nietzer, Samuel, Di Mauro, Valentina, Kamyab, Elham, Pawlowski, Sascha, Petersen-Thiery, Mechtild, Schupp, Peter J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10-05-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Acute toxicity; Bioassays; Coral reefs; Corals; Design of experiments; early life history; ecotoxicology; Experimental design; Filters; Laboratories; Larvae; Lipophilic; marine pollution; Mortality; organic ultraviolet filters; Pollutants; Seawater; short-term bioassay; Spawning; Sperm; Standardization; Standardized tests; Sun screens; Sunscreens; Toxicity; Toxicity testing; Tubastraea faulkneri; Ultraviolet filters; Guam; Netherlands; United States > US; Germany; early life history; sunscreen; ecotoxicology; coral reefs; organic ultraviolet filters; marine pollution; standardization; oxybenzone; short-term bioassay; settlement
• ISSN: 2305-6304; 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics10050244

Coral reefs have been declining globally at a historically unprecedented rate. Ultraviolet (UV) filters used in sunscreens may contribute to this decline at local scales, which has already led to bans on various organic UV filters in some regions. However, the underlying studies for these bans demonstrated significant flaws in the experimental design due to a lack of validated and standardized testing methods for corals. This study aimed to investigate options for the development of a standard acute toxicity test for the larval stage of scleractinian corals. Planula larvae of two brooding (
and
) and two spawning (
and
) species were exposed to the organic UV filter benzophenone-3 (BP3) for 48 h under static conditions. We observed interspecific variations in toxicity, with
being the most sensitive (LC
= 0.75 µg L
) and
the least sensitive (LC
= 2951.24 µg L
) species. Inhibition of settlement was found to be a useful endpoint leading to an EC
of 1.84 µg L
in
larvae. Although the analytical challenges of measuring lipophilic substances in small volume test setups remain, the here applied test design and selected endpoints are suitable for further validation and subsequent standardization.