Evaluation of acute toxicity and teratogenic effects of disinfectants by Daphnia magna embryo assay.

Three common disinfectants were selected in this study to investigate their toxicity to Daphnia magna. The methods used in this study included the traditional acute toxicity test, new embryo toxicity test, and teratogenic test. The study concluded that the acute toxicity of the three disinfectants to young daphnids and embryos were hypochlorite > formaldehyde > m-cresol. The effects on growth mostly occurred in the late stages of organogenesis. Of the organs, the Malpighian tube was the most sensitive to disinfectants during embryonic organogenesis. After exposure of the disinfectants to sunlight for 4 h, acute toxicity and teratogenic effects of hypochlorite on young daphnids decreased by 30% and 71%, respectively, while those of formaldehyde decreased by 35% and 49%, respectively. In addition, comparing toxic endpoints of the three disinfectants with and without sunlight exposure, the embryo tests were equally sensitive to the three-week reproduction test in this study.