JLE

Environnement, Risques & Santé

MENU

A Hydra model to evaluate devepmental impact Volume 5, issue 4, Juillet-Août 2006

Figures

See all figures

Authors
Écotoxicité, santé environnementale, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) 7146, Université de Metz, Rue Général Delestraint 57070 Metz

The impact of anthropogenic pollution on invertebrate development remains relatively unexplored despite the economic and ecological consequences flowing from the disruption of this physiological process. The freshwater hydra, Hydra attenuata, like other cnidaria, is a standard model for research in developmental biology. Its capacity for regeneration deserves to be better used in ecotoxicology to detect the toxic potential of hydric pollutants and study the mechanisms of toxicity. Data obtained from the ENIMED program do not show clear disquieting risks from the drugs studied, despite effects on development of some molecules at exposure levels superior to environmental concentrations.