R4 PM Effects and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceutical and Other Emerging Wastewater Contaminants in Aquatic Systems
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 4

(NEN-1116-576071) Effects of Carbamazepine and Fluoxetine on aquatic invertebrates.

Nentwig, G.¹, Hecker, V.¹, Oetken, M.¹, Oehlmann, J.¹, ¹ Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University, Zoological Institute, Frankfurt/M., Germany

ABSTRACT- The purpose of this research project was to determine effects of pharmaceuticals on freshwater invertebrates, as these compounds are biologically highly active. We were especially interested whether effects would occur at concentrations at which pharmaceutical residues are found in the aquatic environment. As only few literature data for exposure via sediment are available, we took this exposure pathway into consideration as well as water exposure. In the study, we exposed three freshwater invertebrate species to a range of pharmaceuticals. For the sediment bioassays, we used the midge Chironomus riparius and the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus as test organisms. The exposure pathway via water was assessed with the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Additionally, we used the ciliates Blepharisma japonicum and Tetrahymena thermophila as model organisms in a protist food web, reflecting effects on destruents. In this presentation, the results for the antiepileptic drug carbamazepine and the antidepressant drug fluoxetine will be shown. Carbamazepine is ubiquitously present in the aquatic environment; fluoxetine detections in rivers and streams are actually increasing. The results show that pharmaceuticals may have considerable effects on aquatic invertebrates and can pose a risk for the survival of field populations even at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Key words: Chironomus riparius, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Carbamazepine, Fluoxetine