Bioaccumulation of pharmaceutical compounds and illicit drugs in fish from Argentina.

AVIGLIANO E.; HADDAD S.P.; MIGLIORANZA K.S.B.; ONDARZA P.M.; BROOKS B.

Santos, SP

Congreso; 12th Biennial Meeting Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Latino América (SETAC LA); 2017

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Latino América

Pharmaceutical compounds (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 scientific and government areas. Bioaccumulation of PhC and ID has been observed around the world, however data from Argentina remains poorly studied. This research assessed the bioaccumulation of PhC, ID and their metabolites in muscle, liver and gills of four fish species (Rhamdia quelen, Hypostomus fuliginosus, Hoplias lacerdae and Prochilodus lineatus) from two different areas: 1-Paraná river, an urban stream which receives the discharge of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) from Posadas city, and 2-Acaraguá river, inside of the natural reserve ?Antonia Ramos Research Center? which does not receive WWTP effluents. Twenty-Seven PhC were analyzed by LC-MS/MS Agilent 6420 Triple Quad with ESI. Fish from the natural reserve presented higher levels of PhC than the Paraná river (12.8 and 6.6 ng/g ww, respectively). It could be associated with a dilution effect due to the Parana river flow (17,300 m³/s) that is several times higher than the WWTP discharge (0.25 m³/s). Levels of PhC, ID and their metabolites in liver of all species were markedly higher than those observed in gills and muscle. Antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole (SUL) and trimethoprim (TRI) presented the highest levels (10.7 ng/g ww TRI+SUL), however erythromycin was found in 100% of samples (range 0.7-5.6 ng/g ww). TRI+SUL are broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used for treating bacterial infections in human and animals. Caffeine levels ranged from 0.6-13 ng/g ww in both areas, which is an indicator of untreated sanitary wastewater inputs. Norfluoxetine, a metabolite of fluoxetine, was the main antidepressant found (2.4-3.8 ng/g ww) showing the increase consumption of this group of PhC in Argentina. Benzoylecgonine, a primary metabolite of cocaine, was found in both areas with the highest levels in fish from the reserve (1.6 ng/g ww). These findings reveal the occurrence of PhC in natural areas in Argentina, which represent biodiversity reserves of the Atlantic forest. Moreover, these results also show that further studies of PhC and their metabolites within different environmental compartments are needed. The potential effects of PhC, which are bioactive even at low concentrations, on the non-target biota should be addressed in future studies.