Muscle concentrations of human pharmaceuticals and hepatic EROD and BROD activity in fish from the inner La Plata River and Lower Uruguay River.

ROJO, M.; GONZALEZ, P.V.; LóPEZ ACA, V.; DOMáNICO, A.; CARRIQUIRIBORDE, P.

Santos

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 12th Biennial Meeting; 2017

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Latin-American Branch

The aim of these study was to assess the occurrence and concentrations of sixpharmaceuticals: atenolol (ATE), caffeine (CAF), carbamazepine (CBZ), enalapril(ENA), metformin (MET), sildenafil (SIL) in four fish species: Proc1hilodus lineatus, Salminus brasiliensis, Leporinus obtusidens and Pimelodus maculatus. Fish were collected from two areas, one located in the southern sector of the riverine La Plata River (RLP) and other at the Lower Uruguay River (URU) during 2016 fall. Chemical analysis in muscle was carried out using the rotary extractor method followed by HPLC-MS/MS. Additionally, EROD, BROD and GST activities were fluorometrically and spectrophotometrically measured in P. lineatus and P. maculatus. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of assessed pharmaceuticals were between 0.5-3.3 ìg/kg and 5.1-11.2 ìg/kg, respectively. Recoveries were between 33% and 117%. Overall occurrence showed that CBZ, ENA and SIL were ubiquitous, followed by ATE (75% RLP-100% URU), then CAF (25% RLP-50% URU), and finally MET, varying highly among sites (0% RLP-100% URU). Usually frequencies were higher at URU. Maximum concentrations were higher for SIL (529 ìg/kg, RLP), followed by ATE (282 ìg/kg URU), then ENA (106 ìg/kg, RLP), CBZ (100 ìg/kg, URU) and CAF (90 ìg/kg, RLP), and lower for MET (29 ìg/kg, URU). Average total pharmaceutical concentration was higher in fish from RLP (234.4 ìg/kg) than in URU (156.8 ìg/kg). The species with higher total concentration was L. obtusidens (438 ìg/kg), followed by S. brasiliensis (240 ìg/kg), then P. lineatus (221 ìg/kg) and P. maculatus (109 ìg/kg). BROD and GST activities were significantly different among sites only for P. lineatus, with 79 and 57% higher in RLP than in URU, respectively. Some of the measured concentrations were above the maximum residues limits (MRL) established by the European Union for diclofenac in bovine muscle (5 ìg/kg). In addition, higher activities of the biotransformation enzymes were observed in fish collected in the site with greater pharmaceutical concentrations.Therefore, including these compounds in monitoring programs is advised. This was the first report on bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals in fish of the ?del Plata? basin.