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(73-12) Chronic toxicity of acetylsalicylic acid and metabolites on standard and autochthonous cladocerans. Ribeiro, Catarina*,1, Abrantes, Nelson J.1, Batista, Rute1, Gonçalves, F.1, 1 Departamento de Biologia da Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal ABSTRACT- During the last years, pharmaceutical residues have been recognised as an important group of water pollutants. For instance, large quantities of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) are commonly taken by humans, and it is the principal active ingredient of several nonprescribed pharmaceuticals. The highest amount (50-90%) is excreted without changes, being the remainder excreted in the form of metabolites: salicylic acid, salicyluric acid, gentisic acid. Acute toxicity results showed that gentisic acid was the most toxic compound (Daphnia magna: EC50-48h = 0.27mg/L; D. longispina: EC50-48h=0.21mg/L). The EC50-48h (in mg/L) obtained were for ASA: D. magna: 0.78; D. longispina: 0.73, and for salicylic acid: D. magna: 1.48; D. longispina: 0.55. The present study aims to assess the impact of sub-lethal concentrations of ASA and its metabolites on standard and autochthonous cladoceran species. Therefore, long-term effects at reproduction and growth levels of D. magna: and D. longispina were determined. Our work has shown that autochthonous species were more sensitive compared with standard species and low concentrations of toxic may induce subtle changes in the organism behaviour and physiology, which accumulate over time and can produce truly profound changes. Key words: chronic toxicity, acetylsalicylic acid, cladocerans |
