Cytotoxic effects caused by N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide and radiation in Perna perna mussels

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation in combination with DEET on marine aquatic biota. It was studied the exposure of irradiated and non-irradiated marine mussels to different concentrations of DEET. It was compared the recoverability of mussels which were exposed to DEET after suffering another stressful action by the ionizing radiation. The cytotoxicity by the neutral red retention time assay was used to verify the DEET effect on the lysosomal membrane of Perna perna mussels hemocytes in non-irradiated and irradiated organisms. The organisms were irradiated at 3, 11 and 107 Gy doses of 60Co gamma rays and exposed to 0.1; 1.0 and 20.0 μg L-1 DEET. The results were obtained 24, 48 and 72h after irradiation. It was observed statistic significance at concentrations of 1.0 and 20.0 μg L-1 in non-irradiated mussels for all exposure times. In mussels irradiated with 3 Gy and 11 Gy it was observed that the retention time was not significantly different from trials in which the organisms were not irradiated. The 107 Gy dose caused some adverse effects to organisms showing a significant reduction in the number of cells compared with the other doses. The present study showed cytotoxic effect of DEET to Perna perna mussels at concentrations above 0.1 μg L-1 a value very close to the concentrations identified in the environment suggesting attention to this concentration range.