Bioaccumulation of pharmaceutical compounds and illicit drugs in fish from Argentina

PAOLA ONDARZA ; SAMUEL P. HADDAD ; ESTEBAN AVIGLIANO; BRYAN W. BROOKS ; KARINA S. B. MIGLIORANZA

Sao Paulo

Congreso; Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; 2017

Pharmaceuticalcompounds (PhC) and illicit drugs (ID) are Contaminants of Emerging Concern,which are continuously released into waters with potential adverse effects on biota.Therefore, the presence of PhC and ID receives more attention from scientificand government areas. Bioaccumulation of PhC and ID has been observed aroundthe world, however data from Argentina remains poorly studied. This research assessedthe bioaccumulation of PhC, ID and their metabolites in muscle, liver and gillsof four fish species (Rhamdia quelen, Hypostomus sp., Hoplias lacerdae and Prochiloduslineatus) from two different areas: 1-Paraná river, an urban stream whichreceives the discharge of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) from Posadascity, and 2-Acaraguá river, inside of the natural reserve ?Antonia RamosResearch Center? which does not receive WWTP effluents. Twenty-Seven PhC were analyzedby LC-MS/MS Agilent6420 Triple Quad with ESI. Fish fromthe natural reserve presented higher levels of PhC than the Paraná river (12.8and 6.6 ng/g ww, respectively). It could beassociated with a dilution effect due to the Parana river flow (17,300 m³/s) that is several times higher than the WWTPdischarge (0.25 m³/s). Levels of PhC, ID and their metabolites in liver of all species, were markedly higher than those observedin gills and muscle. Antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole (SUL) andtrimethoprim (TRI) presented the highest levels (10.7 ng/gww TRI+SUL), however erythromycin was found in 100% of samples (range 0.7-5.6 ng/gww). TRI+SUL are broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used for treatingbacterial infections in human and animals. Caffeine levels ranged from0.6-13 ng/g ww in bothareas, which is an indicator of untreated sanitary wastewater inputs. Norfluoxetine, a metabolite offluoxetine, was the main antidepressant found (2.4-3.8 ng/g ww) showing theincrease consumption of this group of PhC in Argentina. Benzoylecgonine, aprimary metabolite of cocaine, was found in both areas with the highest levels infish from the reserve (1.6 ng/g ww). These findings reveal the occurrence of PhC innatural areas in Argentina, which represent biodiversity reserves of theAtlantic forest. Moreover, these results also show that further studies of PhCand their metabolites within different environmental compartments are needed. Thepotential effects of PhC,which are bioactive even atlow concentrations, on the non-target biota should be addressed in future studies.