Ecological Relevance of Key Toxicants in Aquatic Systems

Schmitt‐Jansen, Mechthild; Ohe, Peter Carsten von der; Franz, Stephanie; Rotter, Stefanie; Sabater, Sergi; Zwart, Dick de; Segner, Helmut

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18384-3_13

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Typically, the risk ratio or quotient is calculated from either predicted or measured water concentrations and effect concentrations; the most common approach is to determine the risk ratio using the predicted environmental concentration/predicted no‐effect concentration ratio (PEC/PNEC). Other risk ratio variations exist, such as the use of measured environmental concentrations when these are available. This approach does take into consideration the toxicity of the chemical .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A rational approach to selecting and ranking some pharmaceuticals of concern for the aquatic environment and their relative importance compared with other chemicals

Donnachie

Johnson

Sumpter

2015

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

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Aquatic organisms can be exposed to thousands of chemicals discharged by the human population. Many of these chemicals are considered disruptive to aquatic wildlife, and the literature on the impacts of these chemicals grows daily. However, because time and resources are not infinite, research must focus on the chemicals that represent the greatest threat. One group of chemicals of increasing concern is pharmaceuticals, for which the primary challenge is to identify which represent the greatest threat. In the present study, a list of 12 pharmaceuticals was compiled based on scoring the prevalence of different compounds from previous prioritization reviews. These included rankings based on prescription data, environmental concentrations, predicted environmental concentration/predicted no-effect concentration (PEC/PNEC) ratios, persistency/bioaccumulation/(eco)toxicity (PBT), and fish plasma model approaches. The most frequently cited were diclofenac, paracetamol, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, naproxen, atenolol, ethinyl estradiol, aspirin, fluoxetine, propranolol, metoprolol, and sulfamethoxazole. For each pharmaceutical, literature on effect concentrations was compiled and compared with river concentrations in the United Kingdom. The pharmaceuticals were ranked by degree of difference between the median effect and median river concentrations. Ethinyl estradiol was ranked as the highest concern, followed by fluoxetine, propranolol, and paracetamol. The relative risk of these pharmaceuticals was compared with those of metals and some persistent organic pollutants. Pharmaceuticals appear to be less of a threat to aquatic organisms than some metals (Cu, Al, Zn) and triclosan, using this ranking approach.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%