Biological effects of PPCPs on aquatic lives and evaluation of river waters affected by different wastewater treatment levels

Abstract

The existence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the water environment is an emerging problem. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of eleven PPCPs through bioassays on bacteria, algae, crustaceans, amphibians and protozoa, and compared the toxicology indexes with the concentration of PPCPs in river water for ecotoxiclogical risk evaluation. Toxicity of the eleven PPCPs was observed and the values of EC50 or LC50 were in the order of mg/L. A distinctive finding is that antibacterial triclosan affected all aquatic lives tested. The effects of PPCPs varied according to species of lives. Contamination from PPCPs was detected at observation stations on the river, and the range of concentration was in the order of ng/L far lower than the values of toxicity indexes EC50 or LC50. Ecotoxicological risks posed by PPCPs at the observation stations was evaluated using the concentration in the river water and the NOEC examined by AGI tests. The results revealed that three PPCPs, triclosan, clarithromycin, and azithromycin, posed an ecotoxiclogical risk in rivers where wastewater treatment systems are not yet well developed.

Seasonal and Spatial Distribution of Caffeine, Atrazine, Atenolol and DEET in Surface and Drinking Waters from the Brazilian Federal District

“…PNEC for DEET and caffeine (5200 ng L -1 ) were based on no-observed effect concentration (NOEC) data for aquatic organisms using an assessment factor of 100. 52,53 Figure 4 also shows risks quotients for human health (RQ HH ) calculated by the ratio between caffeine and atrazine levels in drinking water and their respective WQC. For atrazine, WQC corresponded to the maximum permissible level preconized by the Brazilian drinkingwater standards, 54 while for caffeine WQC was calculated according to equation 1 using a TDI of 0.003 mg kg -1 according to the lowest no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) compiled by Meltzer et al 55 In the present work, RQ analysis was based on the classification proposed by Komori et al 52 where values lower than 0.1 were considered acceptable, whereas ratios between 0.1 and 1 were classified as "needs further survey".…”

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products as emerging micropollutants in Brazilian surface waters: a preliminary snapshot on environmental contamination and risks

“…In some cases, PNECs were estimated in this work using assessment factors suggested by the European Commission 11 as well as toxicological data available elsewhere [20][21][22][23][24] . Table 1 shows a list of the most commonly investigated emergent micropollutants in Brazil and PNEC values obtained in the literature or estimated in the present work.…”

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products: Risks, Challenges, and Solutions

“…CECs are not necessarily new pollutants as they may have been present in the environment for several years, but their presence and signiicance are only now being evaluated [3]. Due to their medical properties, PPCPs have an inherent biological efect; furthermore, they behave as persistent pollutants because of their continual infusion into the aquatic ecosystem [9][10][11].…”