Platform for assessing the toxicity of dyes in cotton fibers supported by the cellulolytic capacity of Parhyale hawaiensis

• Grant number: 24/23631-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Gisela de Aragão Umbuzeiro
• Grantee: Amanda Rocha Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Tecnologia (FT). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The textile industry has a strong influence on the world economy, but it is one of the sectors that most cause environmental pollution. This industry releases effluents into the environment containing various toxic chemical compounds, with dyes being one of their main constituents. Dyes can reach the environment directly or through textile fibers, making it important to study their toxic effects via ingestion. Various fibers are used in the textile industry, with an increase in the use of natural fibers, especially cellulose fibers such as cotton. Parhyale hawaiensis can digest lignocellulose to obtain energy, making it possible to use cotton as a form of food. This organism has already been used to assess the toxicity of substances, including dyes, and has well-established protocols for acute and chronic toxicity tests. This work aims is to adapt toxicity tests with P. hawaiensis to propose a test platform for assessing the toxicity of dyes already impregnated in cotton fibers, using food as the exposure pathway. Cultures of P. hawaiensis, which are already well established at Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Genotoxicity (LAEG), will be adapted with cotton as the only food source. The acute test will be carried out in 12-well plates, with 1 neonate (less than or equal to 7 days) and a quantity of cotton determined for the test in each well. After 96 h of exposure, the mortality of the organisms will be observed. The chronic test will last 42 days and will be carried out in recipients with a capacity for 100 mL of saline water and cotton. 10 organisms (less than or equal to 52 days) will be placed in each container and, at the end of the test, reproduction and mortality will be assessed. Once the tests have been adapted, the Direct Blue 218 dye, which has already been shown to cause adverse effects in this organism, will be used as a proof of concept. It is expected that in the future a test platform for dyed cotton fibers will be obtained, providing data for the literature on potential adverse effects of dyes using food as a source of exposure. (AU)