Determination of toxicity of acrylamide on narrow clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus Esch. 1823)

Acrylamide is a chemical used to make polyacrylamide materials, resulting from the reaction of protein and sugar at high temperatures. Although acrylamide is found in very low concentrations in the environment, it has become one of the chemical groups of concern in recent years. In the study, freshwater crayfish was chosen as a standard test organism by international organizations such as OECD, and its importance in the food chain. In this study, the crayfish Astacus leptodactylus, widely distributed in Turkey, exposed to environmental pollutant of acrylamide at sublethal levels (100 and 200 mg / L) for 48 h and 7 days. Total hemocytes counts and gill and hepatopancreas tissue were investigated histologically after exposed to acrylamide exposed crayfisih. The total hemocyte counts of freshwater crayfish in the treatment group showed a statistically significant decrease compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). In the study, gill and hepatopancreatic tissues were prepared in accordance with histological methods and examined histopathologically. Some histopathological changes were observed in the exposure groups exposed to subletal doses of acrylamide compared to the control groups. Histopathological degenerations such as deformation in the gill lamellae and hypertrophy (enlargement) in the gill lamellae in the gill tissues of the exposed group and degeneration in the hepatopancreatic tissue and focal tubule epithelial cell necrosis were detected. Although these changes were at different frequencies in freshwater crayfish samples belonging to each application group, the lesionswere recorded in almost all exposed samples. Histopathological findings increased with increasing the dose and exposure time. Keywords: Astacus leptodactylus, Acrylamide, Total Hemocyte Counts, Histopathlogy