Biomarkers of Cytotoxic, Genotoxic and Apoptotic Effects in Cyprinus carpio Exposed to Complex Mixture of Contaminants from Hospital Effluents

Abstract

Hospital wastewater is an important source of emerging contaminants. Recent studies emphasize the importance of assessing the effects of mixtures of contaminants rather than environmental risk of their individual components, as well as the determination of intrinsic toxicity of wastewater. Mixtures of pollutants has possible interactions that have notable environmental side effects. The aim of this study is an attempt to characterize biomarkers in Cyprinus carpio related to the exposure to a complex mixture of contaminants found in hospital wastewater. Results of a particular hospital effluent show the presence of traces of heavy metals, high chlorine concentration and emerging contaminants such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The LC50 was of 5.49 % at 96 h. The cytotoxic, genotoxic and apoptotic biomarkers increase when fishes were exposed to wastewater (1/10 CL50) from hospital wastewater. This study emphasizes the importance of identifying and quantifying the effects of contaminants as pharmaceuticals, disinfectants and surfactants in order to design and implement an ecotoxicological plan.

A protocol for identifying suitable biomarkers to assess fish health: A systematic review

“…In contrast, we were unable to find monitoring information for pharmaceuticals and personal care products. These contaminants were not further assessed to identify contaminants of concern for this review, but if present in Gladstone Harbour may contribute to fish biomarker responses [60, 61]. …”

Determination of Pharmaceuticals Discharged in Wastewater from a Public Hospital Using LC-MS/MS Technique

“…The analytical parameters for analyzed pharmaceuticals are summarized in Table 5. [23][24][25]35]. In these studies, only five drugs (acetaminophen, atenolol, ibuprofen, naproxen and omeprazole) were detected in concentrations ranging from 0.009 to 123 µg L -1 ( Table 7).…”

“…In Mexico, the monitoring of pharmaceuticals in hospital wastewater is scarcely described. Few studies have been reported regarding pharmaceutical's determination in the wastewater of some hospitals in the central zone of the country [23][24][25]. The pharmaceuticals detected in these studies belong to anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, -blockers, and -lactamic therapeutic groups.…”

Análisis de fármacos en aguas residuales de tres hospitales de la ciudad de Puebla, México

“…Con respecto a otros estudios mexicanos realizados en hospitales de tamaño similar, los fármacos paracetamol y naproxeno son las sustancias que en este trabajo sobrepasaron, en mayor medida, las concentraciones previamente reportadas. En aguas residuales no tratadas, la concentración de paracetamol se encontró de 13.6 hasta casi 100 veces más alta en comparación con publicaciones previas (Olvera-Néstor et al, 2016;Pérez-Álvarez et al, 2018;Gómez-Oliván et al, 2019;Luja-Mondragón et al, 2019). Naproxeno se cuantificó en niveles de 3.5 hasta 50 veces superiores que en las aguas de investigaciones anteriormente publicadas (Neri-Cruz et al, 2015;Olvera-Néstor et al, 2016;Pérez-Álvarez et al, 2018;Gómez-Oliván et al, 2019;Luja-Mondragón et al, 2019).…”

“…Por ejemplo, Olvera-Néstor et al (2016) analizaron las aguas residuales no tratadas de una unidad de medicina familiar del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) localizada en la ciudad de Toluca, Estado de México y, reportaron la presencia de paracetamol (0.39 ng/L), ibuprofeno (71.7 ng/L), naproxeno (123 ng/L) y diclofenaco (6.46 ng/L). En las aguas residuales de otro hospital del IMSS de la misma ciudad, que tampoco contaba con PTAR, se determinaron 11 fármacos, entre ellos ibuprofeno (620 ng/L), naproxeno (1790 ng/L), diclofenaco (590 ng/L) y, paracetamol (2660 ng/L) (Pérez-Álvarez et al, 2018).…”