Ecotoxicity and environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aquatic environments and wastewater treatment plants

Abstract

A wide range of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are present in the environment, and many of their adverse effects are unknown. The environmental risk assessment of 26 PPCPs of relevant consumption and occurrence in the aquatic environment in Spain was accomplished in this research. Based on the ecotoxicity values obtained by bioluminescence and respirometry assays and by predictions using the US EPA ecological structure-activity relationship (ECOSAR™), the compounds were classified following the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. According to the criteria of the European Medicines Agency, the real risk of impact of these compounds in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and in the aquatic environment was predicted. In at least two ecotoxicity tests, 65.4 % of the PPCPs under study showed high toxicity or were harmful to aquatic organisms. The global order of the species' sensitivity to the PPCPs considered was as follows: Vibrio fischeri (5 min) > Vibrio fischeri (15 min) > algae > crustaceans > fish > biomass of WWTP. Acetaminophen, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, clofibrate, ibuprofen, omeprazole, triclosan, parabens and 1,4-benzoquinone showed some type of risk for the aquatic environments and/or for the activated sludge of WWTPs. Development of acute and chronic ecotoxicity data, the determination of predicted and measured environmental concentrations of PPCPs, the inclusion of metabolites and transformation products and the evaluation of mixtures of these compounds will allow further improvements of the results of the ERAs and, finally, to efficiently identify the compounds that could affect the environment.

Determination of selected cardiovascular active compounds in environmental aquatic samples – Methods and results, a review of global publications from the last 10 years

“…In general, RQ values lower than 1 indicate that the compound does not imply a significant risk to the environment. Risk quotients for cardiovascular active compounds ideally should be calculated as the ratio between the average measured environmental concentration (MEC) and the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) (Fent et al, 2006;Martin et al, 2012;Celle-Jeanton et al, 2014;Kosma et al, 2014;Ortiz de Garcia et al, 2014;Godoy et al, 2015). In order to calculate PNEC the ratio of the lowest value of ecotoxicity (EC50, LC50 or NOEC) is required, which represents the worst case scenario, amongst acute and chronic ecotoxicity tests on 3 trophic levels fish, daphnia, and algae by applying a specific assessment factor (AF) of 1000, 100, 50 or 10 (Lepper, 2005).…”

Toxicity and biodegradation of ibuprofen by Bacillus thuringiensis B1(2015b)

“…where q is the specific ibuprofen removal rate (mg L −1  h −1 ), q max is the maximum specific ibuprofen removal rate (mg L −1  h −1 ), K s is the half-saturation constant (mg L −1 ) and S is the ibuprofen concentration (mg L −1 ) (Durruty et al 2011; Okpokwasili and Nweke 2005). Kinetic constants were estimated using SigmaPlot 12.0 software.…”

In Silico Models for Ecotoxicity of Pharmaceuticals

“…The environmental risk assessment of 26 pharmaceuticals and personal care products have been performed by De García et al [ 167 ] based on the ecotoxicity values generated by bioluminescence and respirometry assays. Then the compounds were classifi ed following the Globally Harmonized System of Classifi cation and Labelling of Chemicals by predictions using the US EPA ecological structure-activity relationship (ECOSAR™).…”