The comparison of anesthetic potency and toxicity of 2-phenoxyethanol and 1-phenoxy-2-propanol for juvenile common carp

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate anesthetic potency and acute toxicity of 2-phenoxyethanol (2PE) and 1-phenoxy-2-propanol (PP) for common carp. During efficacy tests, individual phases of anesthesia and recovery, as well as behavior and survivalrates, were determined. As effective time for anesthesia and recovery, 3 and 10 min respectively were chosen. Determined efficientconcentrations were 600 mg L–1 for 2PE and 415 and 460 mg L–1 for PP. Acute toxicity tests were performed according to OECD NormAcute Toxicity Tests for Fish No. 203. To establish the 96-h LC50 of PP and 2PE, juvenile carps were exposed to six different concentrationsin three replicates. Control fish were exposed to substance-free water. Mortality of fish and water characteristics were measured every 8h. Determined 96-h LC50 values of 2PE and PP were 327.9 mg L–1 and 304.2 mg L–1, respectively. Results obtained during experimentsproved that both 2PE and PP have good efficacy and can be classified as relatively harmless for fish. This suggests that both 2PE and PPcan be used as safe anesthetics for common carp. However, similar anesthesia time together with extended recovery time suggest PP asa potentially better anesthetic for aquatic organisms.