Is natural better? An ecotoxicity study of anthraquinone dyes

Natália Oliveira de Farias; Anjaina Fernandes de Albuquerque; Amanda Dos Santos; Gabriela Cristina Fonseca Almeida; Harold Stanley Freeman; Riikka Räisänen; Gisela de Aragão Umbuzeiro

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140174

Is natural better? An ecotoxicity study of anthraquinone dyes

Chemosphere. 2023 Dec:343:140174. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140174. Epub 2023 Sep 21.

Authors

Natália Oliveira de Farias¹, Anjaina Fernandes de Albuquerque², Amanda Dos Santos³, Gabriela Cristina Fonseca Almeida², Harold Stanley Freeman⁴, Riikka Räisänen⁵, Gisela de Aragão Umbuzeiro⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Technology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Limeira, SP, Brazil; Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
² School of Technology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Limeira, SP, Brazil.
³ School of Technology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Limeira, SP, Brazil; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, NCSU, Raleigh, USA.
⁵ Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Craft Studies, University of Helsinki, UH, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ School of Technology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Limeira, SP, Brazil; Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: giselau@unicamp.br.

PMID: 37741366
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140174

Abstract

The concept of sustainability has gained prominence in recent years, enhancing the need to develop products that are less harmful to the environment. Dyes are used by various industrial sectors and have a lot of market value; they are used on a large scale mainly by the textile industry that uses large volumes of water and is one of the main contributors to the contamination of water bodies. Some natural compounds, especially anthraquinones are re-emerging as possible alternatives to synthetic dyes, some of which are known for their toxic and/or mutagenic effects. The BioColour project (https://biocolour.fi/) which is interested in promoting the development of new alternative molecules to synthetic dyes, provided us highly purified anthraquinone dyes dermocybin and dermorubin (>98% purity) extracted from a specie of fungus Cortinarius sanguineus. Dyes were tested for their acute and chronic toxicity using different aquatic organisms. Dermorubin was not toxic to any of the organisms tested for the highest test concentration of 1 mg L^-1 and it was the most promising dye. Dermocybin was toxic to Daphnia similis (EC₅₀ = 0.51 mg L^-1), Ceriodaphnia dubia (IC₁₀ = 0.13 mg L^-1) and Danio rerio embryos (extrapolated LC₅₀ = 2.44 mg L^-1). A safety limit, i.e, predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) of 0.0026 mg L^-1 was derived based on the toxicity of dermocybin. The PNEC value can be used to provide hazard information for future application in commercial dyeing processes. Then, we compared the toxicity of dermocybin and dermorubin with ecotoxicity data available in the literature on other anthraquinone dyes of natural and synthetic origin. Some natural dyes can be as toxic as synthetic ones, or more toxic when chronic effects are considered. Despite natural dyes being used since centuries past, there are few ecotoxicological studies available. This study is designed to help develop a more comprehensive understanding of their toxicological properties.

Keywords: Algae; Ceriodaphnia; Daphnia; Natural dyes; Synthetic dyes; Zebrafish.

MeSH terms

Animals
Anthraquinones / toxicity
Coloring Agents / toxicity
Daphnia
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / toxicity
Zebrafish

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Coloring Agents
Anthraquinones
Water