Acute toxicity assays and bioaccumulation of selenium in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

• Grant number: 20/08066-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: November 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Mario Henrique Gonzalez
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique da Costa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Fishes have been considered an important food to the health of the human being due to your nutritional composition, of fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, besides having economic relevance to the Brazilian industries. With the increase of fish consumption in Brazil, grown the concern with the quality of this product related to the composition and integrity. Due to your easy adaptation, the high quality of your meat and the broad geographic distribution, the tilapia has become a product of industrial interest with excellent acceptance of the consumer market, being the 4ª major pisciculture in 2017, according to FAO. The knowledge about toxicity and the bioaccumulation of inorganic species are fundamental to the environmental monitoring and the evaluation of the possible environmental impacts. So, the aim of this project are the determination of the lethal concentration of inorganic selenium able to cause mortality of half the population (LC50) of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), the bioaccumulation assays and the evaluation of the possible toxic effects on fish tissues. It may be possible to determinate the distribution of Se on the different organs, besides the determination toxicokinetics parameters (bioaccumulation factor, uptake and depuration rate constant) after an exposure period. The study of treatment waste generated after the assays and the correct disposal of these effluents will be critically evaluated and it is intended to propose an efficient method for the disposal of the waste. (AU)