The Monitoring and Assessment of Cd2+ Stress Using Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Pollution on the Earth is ubiquitous across ecosystems from the land to the ocean. Various sources contribute to pollution including industrial (e.g. chemicals), agricultural (e.g. pesticides) and domestic (e.g. transportation) pollutants’ ecosystems and substrate environment (e.g. contamination in water). The extensive use of chemicals in agriculture, forests and wetlands may impair biological communities. Due to the lack of target specificity, these chemicals can cause severe and persistent toxic effects on nontarget aquatic species, including bacteria, invertebrates and vertebrates. Different degrees of biological response have been presented according to intensities of different chemicals. The cadmium (Cd2+) contamination in aquatic environment has attracted more and more attention due to its toxic characteristics, for example, accumulation in environment, nondegradability and the potential threat to the ecosystem. Knowledge and understanding of these conditions have led to the development of new monitoring and assessment technologies based on biological and chemical methods. This chapter covers new monitoring technologies and environment assessment of Cd2+ stress using zebrafish (Danio rerio), which include the behaviour responses, metabolism and electrocardiogram (ECG)