In vitro acute toxicity of anionic surfactant
linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) on the motility of gilthead
(Sparus aurata L.) sperm
M. Rosety, F.J. Ordoñez, M. Rosety-Rodríguez,
J.M. Rosety and I. Rosety
Departament of Morphological Sciences, School of Medicine,
University of Cádiz, Spain
Offprint request to: Prof.
Manuel Rosety, Departamento de Ciencias Morfológicas, Facultad
de Medicina, Universidad de Cádiz, Plaza Fragela s/n, 11003
Cádiz, Spain. Fax: + 34 956 015 254. e-mail: manuel.rosety@uca.es
Summary. This paper describes the acute toxicity of
a known anionic surfactant, Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonate (LAS),
on the quality of gilthead Sparus aurata L. sperm. The parameter
used to judge exposure effectiveness was sperm motility as well
as its fertilizing ability after being combined with unexposed
gilthead eggs.
Preincubation of sperm suspensions with concentrations of LAS
of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 mg/L caused decrease in sperm motility
and fertilizing ability. In this respect, percentages of motile
sperm were respectively 89.8±9.8, 81.7±16.3, 69.5±21.3,
57.1±19.1 and 21.2±10.9%. With regard to the percentage
of fertilization success, the results were 85.7±8.1, 75.1±20.2,
62.9±19.7, 52.7±19.2 and 14.2±7.9% respectively.
At concentrations of LAS of 0.5 mg/L or higher, the differences
in both percentage of motility and fertilizing ability with controls
were significant (p<5%).
Although extrapolation from the laboratory to the field requires
caution, the results of this work demonstrated that low-level
surfactant pollution may impact directly on reproduction of the
free gametes (sperm) released into water. It may lead to a long-term
decline and eventual extinction of gilthead populations in nature
when they are located close to effluents that are either untreated
or receive inadequate secondary treatment. It is also quite important
because this species constitutes an important link in the food
chain and its death via exposure to surfactants may imbalance
the littoral ecosystem. Histol. Histopathol. 18, 475-478 (2003)
Key words: Pollution, Sufactant, Sparus aurata, Sperm,
Motility, Fertilization
DOI: 10.14670/HH-18.475