“These metabolites can be used as biomarkers of disease status,” said study leader Dr. Ariel Lawson. Even at the larval stage, the effects of the chemicals were physically visible, affecting the fish’s size, shape, and swimming speed.
Importantly, the damage may not stop just because the fish are exposed. Experts warn that these early biological changes can cause “epigenetic” effects, effectively changing the way genes are expressed without changing the DNA sequence itself.
Offspring inherit clean genomes from their parents, but how that genome unfolds depends largely on environmental stressors, said John Berry, an associate professor at FIU’s Institute for the Environment.
“In clean water, these metabolic changes may not occur,” Berry says.
But in polluted waters, these disrupted genetic blueprints can be passed down through generations.
The high concentrations used in the lab were designed to mimic how the chemicals accumulate in wild fish over time, but scientists say the results sound a stark warning. This research highlights the urgent need to understand the invisible, multi-generational toll on marine life around the world.
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