Can environmentally relevant concentrations of carbamazepine induce short-term sublethal effects on the hydrophyte Myriophyllum quitense?

LOMBARDERO, LUCAS RODRIGO; PÉREZ, DÉBORA JESABEL; ITURBURU, FERNANDO GASTÓN; OKADA, ELENA; CRUPKIN, ANDREA; MENONE, MIRTA LUJÁN

Waco, Texas

Workshop; 9th Young Environmental Scientists Meeting; 2020

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Carbamazepine is one of the most prescribed human pharmaceutical drug worldwide. It has been proposed as ananthropogenic activity marker to assess water quality due to its low removal capacity in wastewater treatment plantsand its frequent occurrence in aquatic ecosystems. Carbamazepine has a high potential of bioaccumulation inmacrophytes. However, its sublethal effects on non-target aquatic plants are poorly reported. The objective of thisstudy was to assess whether low levels of carbamazepine induces short-term sublethal effects on the hydrophyteMyriophyllum quitense, using photosynthetic and oxidative stress biomarkers. Plants of M. quitense (n = 6 pertreatment) were exposed to increased concentrations of carbamazepine (0, 0.1, 1.0, 10, 20, 100 µg/L) in individualglass jars of 0.34 L for 48 hs, under natural photoperiod (10 h light / 14 h darkness). A battery of biomarkers, whichincluded total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids content, catalase and guaiacol peroxidase activity andlipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde content) was evaluated. The results were analyzed by the non-parametricKruskal-Wallis test and by Dunn test. A significant increase in the malondialdehyde content was observed at thelowest tested concentration (0.1 µg/L, p