Triclosan (2,4,4’ –trichloro-2’-hydroxydiphenyl ether) is a chlorinated aromatic compound used as a broad-spectrum ntimicrobial agent against many types of Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and some fungi. Triclosan is used in many personal care products such as soaps, skin cleansers, deodorants, lotions, creams and toothpastes. The indiscriminate use of Triclosan leads to the contamination of surface waters, and poses threats to aquatic organisms. Fish species are ideal aquatic animal models for assessing the toxicity like perturbations in behavior, oxygen uptake and biochemical profiles etc. The objective ofthe present study is to investigate the aquatic toxicity of Triclosan by studying the total protein contentmodifications in fish, Channa punctatus. The experimental fishes are divided into four groups- control,low (0.1 ppm), medium (0.5 ppm) and high (1.0 ppm) concentrations and are exposed to technical gradeTriclosan for 96 hrs. The live fishes are sacrificed after 96hrs and total protein content is analyzed fromfive different tissues - Brain, Liver, Kidney, Gill and Muscle. The total protein content was maximum in liver with depletion of 31.64% in 0.1 ppm, 46.39% in 0.5 ppm and 64.36% in 1.0 ppm, compared tocontrol. The total protein content was minimum in brain with depletion of 18.20% in 0.1 ppm, 39.92% in0.5 ppm and 59.11% in 1.0 ppm, compared to control. The decrease of total protein content may be due to enhanced proteolytic activity and decreased anabolic activity of protein under stress condition towardsTriclosan. The results suggest that Triclosan causes hazardous effects to aquatic organisms especially fishes even at lower concentrations.
