No abstract

Fire suppressors are widely used in firefighting and their chemical composition may present a mixture of perfluorochlorinated surfactants (PFCs), including the perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) which has been internationally banned due to its classification as a persistent organic pollutant (POP). PFCs have been found in environmental matrices and soft tissues of organisms, but the potential effect of such compounds on marine organisms has been overlooked. Here, it was evaluated whether the chronic exposures (i.e., seven days) to the fire suppressors Ageofoam, Cold Fire, Kidde and Argus could affect the reproduction of the copepod Nitocra sp. The tested concentrations consisted of those recommended on the products’ manuals and those ranging between 0.0001% and 1%. For each compound, the effective concentrations to 50% exposed organisms (EC50) and the lowest observed effect concentrations (LOEC) were estimated. All the fire suppressors exhibited high toxicity, causing fecundity reduction. At the recommended dilutions, 100% lethality occurred for all compounds. The EC50 values ranged from 0.00817% - Ageofoam - to 0.03081% - Argus. The LOECs ranged from 0.001% - Ageofoam - to 0.1% - Argus and Kidde; and were much lower than the concentrations recommended for commercial use. The fire suppressors showed high toxicity to the copepod, reducing the reproduction rates, even in very low concentrations, suggesting that the release of such substances in the estuary caused severe effects to the environment. This assessment provides subsides to the environmental regulation of fire suppressors in Brazil, because these compounds do not have national regulations for their use and disposal.

No abstract

Studies show that pharmaceuticals are being taken to the oceans causing contamination and toxicity to aquatic organisms. The present study evaluated the survival rate of microcrustaceans Artemia salina and the abnormal embryo larval development rate of sea urchin Echinometra lucunter, after exposure to the drug Losartan, an antihypertensive drug, and the drug Diclofenac, a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), in addition to its mixture among its compounds. Acute toxicity tests were carried out using A. salina and chronic toxicity tests were carried out using embryos of E. lucunter. Organisms were exposed to isolated pharmaceuticals at different concentrations: 1.56 mg.L-1; 3.12 mg.L-1; 6.25 mg.L-1; 12.5 mg.L-1; 25 mg.L-1; 50 mg.L-1 and 100 mg.L-1, and their mixture at concentrations: 0.78 mg.L-1; 1.56 mg.L-1; 3.12 mg.L-1; 6.25mg.L-1; 12.5 mg.L-1; 25 mg.L-1 and 50 mg.L-1. The result obtained in the acute toxicity test did not show toxicity to A. salina. Chronic toxicity test with losartan did not show toxicity to sea urchin embryos, in contrast, the isolated diclofenac showed chronic toxicity at NOEC = 6.25 mg.L-1, LOEC = 12.5 mg.L-1 and IC50 = 62.15 mg.L-1. The result obtained with embryos exposed to the mixture of losartan and diclofenac, showed chronic toxicity at NOEC= 6.25 mg.L-1 and LOEC= 12.5 mg.L-1, not being possible to show the IC50. Our results suggest that the mixture of the two studied pharmaceuticals might decrease the toxicity, since diclofenac showed higher chronic toxicity to E. lucunter embryo larval development when it was isolated than when it was mixed with losartan. However, there is a need for further ecotoxicological studies that clarify the pathways of these pharmaceuticals in non-target organisms.