Neurodevelopmental toxicity of black carbon in zebrafish: behavioral and metabolomic insights.

Summary: Black carbon is a type of pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels and wood. It is ending up in our lakes and rivers, and scientists wanted to know how it affects fish. They put tiny baby zebrafish in water mixed with black carbon for a week. The results were worrying. The fish grew smaller, had weirdly shaped bodies, and their hearts beat too fast. They also had trouble swimming and reacting to light. Inside their brains, the pollution caused damage to growing nerves and lowered important brain chemicals. This study shows that black carbon is not just bad for lungs, but it can also severely harm the brains and growth of animals living in the water.