Biological Assessment and Remediation of Hazardous Wastes

**13**

**Chapter 2**

**Abstract**

*Yin Lu and Jie Yu*

bio-conservation purposes.

adverse effects of toxic substances [2].

**1. Introduction**

A Well-Established Method for

Using *Artemia* spp. Model

the Rapid Assessment of Toxicity

Rapidly, relevantly, and efficiently toxicity assessment is the basis of continuous investigation and control of environmental contaminants. *Artemia* sp. is usually used as a biological model in cost-efficient bioassays under laboratory conditions to determine toxicity based on its advantageous properties of rapid hatching, easy accessibility, and sensitivity to toxic substances. The three sensitive endpoints of acute mortality, acute cyst hatchability, as well as behavioral response (such as swimming speed) are commonly used as evaluation criteria. The establishment of international standards for toxicity assessment of *Artemia* spp. is necessary. Further research is needed to obtain valuable insights from a biological perspective and for

**Keywords:** *Artemia*, toxicity assessment, mortality, hatchability, swimming speed

Toxicology is the science of researching on the negative effects that chemical or physical agents may exert on living organisms under particular exposure conditions. It is a science that attempts to evaluate all the hazards, such as molecular toxicity, cytotoxicity, organ toxicity, etc., that are associated with a substance, as well as to quantitatively determine the exposure conditions under which these hazards or toxicities are induced [1, 2]. Additionally, toxicology is the science that studies the occurrence, character, frequency, mechanism, and risk elements associated with the

Many biological models can be applied for toxicity evaluation. Cell culture system is often used in vitro because it is economical and time-saving. But it is very difficult to infer the health of the whole organism, including humans, only from the results of in vitro cell tests. On the contrary, in vivo studies may provide improved prediction of biological reactions in intact systems (whole animal) but are generally expensive, time-consuming, and often elaborate, requiring extensive facilities and infrastructure [3]. Zebrafish (*Danio rerio*), as a classical model vertebrate organism, offers many practical advantages that can overcome these limitations to be highly suitable for application in toxicologically relevant research. Zebrafish can be employed as an outstanding in vivo model system to evaluate biological reactions and is a powerful platform to analyze in detail the mechanisms by which substances induce specific biological responses. Further, conditions in high-order vertebrates can be inferred from the results obtained using zebrafish because there
