Preliminary Studies on the Use of Salvinia minima in Ibuprofen Phytoremediation of Aquatic Environments

PRADO CAROLINA DEL VALLE; CHOCOBAR PONCE SILVANA; TABERNERO NOELIA ROMINA; LAMI MARIA JESÚS; ROSA MARIANA DANIELA

Montevideo

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 15th Biennial Meeting; 2023

SETAC

The main emerging contaminants present in water include drugs for human and/or veterinary use. The presence of drugs such as ibuprofen, amoxicillin and paracetamol in continental waters has been frequently detected in many countries including Argentina; these cause alterations in the biota at different levels could alter the dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. The study of emerging contaminants in water and the application of new technologies for its elimination is crucial to carry out a good management of the few water resources that need to satisfy a growing demand for water, and whose quality is seriously affected by anthropic activities; in this context and in search of ecological alternatives and the application of environmentally friendly phytotechnologies, the use of plants such as species of the Salvinia genus, widely studied in phytoremediation, could be a strategy for the elimination of drugs in aquatic environments. For this work, Salvinia minima plants were placed for 7 days in trays containing a 4 mg/L solution of commercial IBU. This concentration was chosen based on previous studies where it was observed that 4 mg/L was the highest concentration at which they were obtained. exposed plants without showing macroscopic alterations. The results obtained showed a decrease in the IBU content in the water in the presence of the plants of around 80%. In parallel, some physiological parameters related to the primary metabolism and the oxidative response of S. minima in the presence of IBU were analyzed; the content of photosynthetic pigments did not show great differences between the control plants and those exposed to IBU, only a slight decrease in the clo b content, the soluble sugars did not show negative effects as a result of IBU exposure, with slight increases in sucrose and glucose content being observed; in consistent with these results, the biomass production was not affected, observing a slight increase in weight in the exposed plants with respect to the control plants; regarding the oxidative response, the MDA (malondialdehyde) content was slightly increased, while the hydrogen peroxide content did not show significant differences. Considering the marked decrease in the IBU content of the medium in the presence of Salvinia minima together with few physiological effects produced as a result of exposure to the drug, we can conclude that this species would be a promising candidate for phytoremediation of emerging contaminants such as ibuprofen.