The Impact of Tetraethyl Pyrophosphate (TEPP) Pesticide on Development and Behavior of Danio rerio: Evaluating the Potential of Cork Granules as a Natural Adsorbent for TEPP Removal from Aqueous Environments

Toxicological studies of pesticides in animal models can enhance our comprehension of their mechanisms of action in biological systems. Potential strategies for removing them from aqueous solutions could be used to treat pesticide-contaminated environments. In the present study, the tetraethyl pyrophosphate (TEPP)-induced toxicological effects, an organophosphate pesticide described as an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor, were evaluated on the development and behavior of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and possible decontamination of the water using wine cork granules as a natural absorbent. TEPP exposition decreased the viability rate of embryos, following a typical inverted U-shaped dose-response curve, without changing the development velocity or morphology of the viable embryos. TEPP also increased preference, spent more time in the dark environment, and swimming endurance of juvenile zebrafish, in contrast to the control group. Remarkably, the water obtained from wine cork granules used in adsorption approaches contains toxic chemicals that increase mortality rates, delay embryonic development, and change the behavior of juvenile zebrafish, in contrast to the in vitro experiments reported in the literature. Overall, our findings suggest that the zebrafish model in different stages of development was able to detect TEPP-induced toxicological effects at nanomolar concentrations, which is more sensible than the in vitro experiments.