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Evaluation of toxicity of capsaicin and zosteric acid and their potential application as antifoulants
Author(s) -
Xu Qingwei,
Barrios Carlos A.,
Cutright Teresa,
Zhang Newby Bimin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.20134
Subject(s) - capsaicin , toxicity , chemistry , bioassay , bacteria , acute toxicity , biofouling , environmental chemistry , food science , biology , biochemistry , ecology , organic chemistry , genetics , receptor , membrane
The toxicity of two natural product antifoulants, capsaicin and zosteric acid, was evaluated using the Microtox assay and a static toxicity test. The EC 50 values obtained from the Microtox assay for capsaicin and zosteric acid were 11.75 ± 1.02 and 442 ± 100 mg/L, respectively. The static toxicity test, conducted with freshwater organisms, yielded capsaicin EC 50 values of 5.5 ± 0.5 and 23 ± 2.0 mg/L for P. putida and Lake Erie bacteria, respectively. Zosteric acid EC 50 values were 167 ± 3.9 and 375 ± 10 mg/L for P. putida and Lake Erie bacteria, respectively. Tests with marine organisms resulted in capsaicin EC 50 values of 6.9 ± 0.2 and 15.6 ± 0.4 mg/L for V. natriegens and V. parahaemolyticus , respectively; whereas zosteric acid EC 50 values were 7.4 ± 0.1 and 18 ± 0.6 mg/L for V. natriegens and V. parahaemolyticus , respectively. These results indicate that zosteric acid is much less toxic than capsaicin and that both are substantially less toxic than the currently used antifoulants, such as TBT (EC 50 < 0.01 ppb). Their effectiveness as natural antifoulants was demonstrated by preliminary attachments studies. As the aqueous antifoulant concentration increased, significant inhibition of bacteria attachment or prevention of biofilm formation was achieved. Hence, both capsaicin and zosteric acid could be attractive alternatives as new antifouling compounds. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 20: 467–474, 2005.