Abstract
Discussion and Summary
We have tested the influence of cigarette-smoke condensates on the fertilized sea urchin egg. Our results show that neither nicotine nor benzo(a)pyrene adducted to ovalbumin showed any effect on early egg development when they were added after fertilization, even though the applied concentrations were many times higher than the substances which occurred in the tested fractions. The egg, however, is very sensitive to fractions containing unsaturated hydrocarbons and other substances. For further subfractionation of these fractions, the sea urchin egg offers a certain advantage, compared with the mammalian system, because it is not sensitive to nicotine or polycyclic hydrocarbons still present in these fractions. If the mammalian system is used, nicotine has to be removed in order to test the toxicity of other substances. Technically this problem cannot easily be solved.
Examination of substances to determine their toxic effect on human beings is done mostly with mammals. For certain investigations, however, the sea urchin embryo seems to be equally useful and may even supply further information in certain cases.
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