Lethal concentration (LC50) (120h) of neutral household detergent Limpol in guppy Poecilia reticulata.

Abstract

Aquatic environments have been destroyed because of increase of pollutants dumped into waters. In some poor countries or in developing ones, like Brazil, detergents are one of the main responsible to impact these environments. Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is a common fish in Central and South America, being very used in vitro experiments, since it is an easy specimen to keep in laboratories. This work aimed to determine the LC₅₀ (120h) of neutral household detergent for guppy. We tested seven different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 70 and 100 mg/L), and Probit analysis showed that approximately 33.4 mg/L was the lethal dose that killed 50% of guppies in 120h, with doses below 30 mg/L did not killing any fish, while doses above 30 mg/L killed all individuals in few hours. We concluded that even small doses of detergent can be lethal to aquatic organisms, especially if the exposition time is prolonged.