Spermiotoxicity and embryotoxicity of triphenyltin in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus Lmk

AbstractThe most important sources of pollution by triphenyltin (TPT) in marine coastal ecosystems are its employment as a fungicide in agriculture and, in association with tributyltin, as a biocide in antifouling paints. In this study, spermiotoxicity and embryotoxicity (from post‐fertilization to pluteus stage) experiments were carried out to clarify better the ecotoxicological effects of TPT during the development of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Sperm exposed to triphenyltin acetate (TPTA) for 60 min showed a significantly reduced capability to fertilize eggs even at the lowest TPTA concentration of 0.1 µg l−1. In proportion to increasing TPTA concentrations, the percentage of fertilized eggs decreased, falling to 45% at 10 µg l−1, the maximum TPTA concentration tested. In embryotoxicity experiments at 48 h post‐fertilization, the length of the pluteus somatic rods was significantly reduced (P < 0.001) at 1.5 µg l−1 and above. Progressive increases in skeletal anomalies were also detected, which were highly significant (P < 0.001) at 2 µg l−1. Embryonic development was greatly slowed at the highest TPT concentrations: embryos never reached the pluteus stage at 5 µg l−1, and development was blocked at the gastrula stage at 10 µg l−1. As observed in previous experiments using butyltin compounds, embryotoxic effects on both skeletal deposition and blocked development are presumed to be due to interference of TPT with intracellular calcium homeostasis. Sea urchin gametes are more sensitive to TPT than embryos, this condition emphasising the environmental risk due to TPT contamination. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.