title: Evaluation of direct and indirect photodegradation of mianserin with high-performance liquid chromatography and short-term bioassays.
abstract: The widespread use of pharmaceuticals has lead to their detection in surface and ground waters. In the last year antidepressants in particular have shown very high growth dynamics of consumption and numerous research shows that these pharmaceuticals are detected in the environment and even in drinking water. Drugs and their metabolites can be subject to two types of photoreaction, direct and indirect photodegradation. These pharmaceuticals even at low concentration can have adverse effects on aquatic life, and the resulting photoproducts can be more toxic than parents compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the direct and indirect photodegradation of mianserin. The kinetics of the process and the identification of photoproducts were investigated by HPLC-PDA and HPLC-MS/MS, respectively. Ecotoxicity of mianserin before and after irradiation was assessed with a battery of assays with bacteria, protozoa and crustacea. The results show that mianserin was not toxic to Vibrio fischeri (Microtox), but its toxicity to protozoan Spirostomum ambiguum (Spirotox) and crustacean Thamnocephalus platyurus (Thamnotoxkit F(™)) was comparable to other antidepressants. On the basis of the results of the toxicity and HPLC before and after irradiation it can be seen that the decrease toxicity of mianserin was related only to a decrease of its concentration. The photoproducts had no impact to toxicity. The direct photodegradation of mianserin was more effective in UV/vis light than vis light. However the presence of humic acid in the indirect photodegradation increases the rate of degradation without regard to the kind of used light.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha Street, Warsaw PL-02097, Poland. Electronic address: milena.wawryniuk@wum.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wawryniuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha Street, Warsaw PL-02097, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietrzak
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha Street, Warsaw PL-02097, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nałęcz-Jawecki
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000633:toxicity*; D001681:Biological Assay; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000187:drug effects; D003445:Crustacea / Q000187:drug effects; D008027:Light; D008803:Mianserin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000633:toxicity*; D010782:Photolysis; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D008803:Mianserin
keywords: Acute toxicity; Antidepressants; HPLC–MS/MS; Humic acids; Phototoxicity