title: Acute Toxicity and Environmental Risks of Five Veterinary Pharmaceuticals for Aquatic Macroinvertebrates.
abstract: Due to the high use of antibiotics and antiparasitics for the treatment of livestock, there is concern about the potential impacts of the release of these compounds into freshwater ecosystems. In this context, the present study quantified the acute toxicity of two antibiotics (sulfadiazine and sulfadimidine), and three antiparasitic agents (flubendazole, fenbendazole, ivermectin) for nine freshwater invertebrate species. These experiments revealed a low degree of toxicity for the sulfonamide antibiotics, with limited implications in the survival of all test species at the highest test concentrations (50 and 100 mg/L). In contrast, all three antiparasitic agents indicated on the basis of their acute toxicity risks for the aquatic environment. Moreover, chronic toxicity data from the literature for antiparasitics, including effects on reproduction in daphnids, support the concern about the integrity of aquatic ecosystems posed by releases of these compounds. Thus, these pharmaceuticals warrant further careful consideration by environmental risk managers.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany.|Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bundschuh
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, 30625, Hannover, Germany.|Zoological Institute, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38092, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sibylla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Höltge
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kreuzig
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany. schulz@uni-landau.de.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000633:toxicity; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents / Q000633:toxicity; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005273:Fenbendazole / Q000633:toxicity; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000633:toxicity; D008463:Mebendazole / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013411:Sulfadiazine / Q000633:toxicity; D013418:Sulfamethazine / Q000633:toxicity; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents; D019155:Veterinary Drugs; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D013411:Sulfadiazine; D013418:Sulfamethazine; D005273:Fenbendazole; D007559:Ivermectin; D008463:Mebendazole; C018945:flubendazole
keywords: Antiparasitics; Benzimidazole anthelmintics; Ivermectin; Predicted environmental concentration; Predicted no effect concentration; Sulfonamide antibiotics