Effect of acid blue 80, an anthracenedione dye, on rainbow trout liver, gill and gut cells in vitro

Acid Blue 80 (AB80) is a dark blue colorant that like other synthetic dyes can get into the environment. Cultures of rainbow trout cell lines were dosed with AB80 either directly, which involved mixing AB80 stock solution into the medium over cells, or indirectly, which involved replacing the medium in cultures with medium that had AB80. A dose-dependent decline in cell viability was found in cultures with or without fetal bovine serum (FBS) after direct dosing. However, for FBS cultures, indirect dosing caused no loss of viability over 24 h and in the long term was detrimental to RTgill-W1 but not RTL-W1 cultures. After 6 days at 50 mg/L cytotoxicity was evident and by 9 days RTgill-W1 cell number had declined. Yet AB at 1 mg/L elicited no changes over 9 days in any cell line. AB80 appears to have the potential to be toxic at only very high concentrations.

► Toxicity of Acid Blue 80, a blue colorant, on rainbow trout cells.
► Concentrations above 5 mg/L kill cells in culture.
► For long exposures gill cells are more susceptible to killing than liver cells.
► Less than 5 mg/ml causes no effect.