title: Risk screening of pharmaceutical compounds in Romanian aquatic environment.
abstract: The aquatic environment is under increased pressure by pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) due to anthropogenic activities. In spite of being found at very low concentrations (ng/L to μg/L) in the environment, PhACs represent a real danger to aquatic ecosystems due to their bioaccumulation and long-term effects. In this study, the presence in the aquatic environment of six non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, diclofenac, acetaminophen, naproxen, indomethacin, and ketoprofen), caffeine, and carbamazepine were monitored. Moreover, their aquatic risk and ecotoxicity by three biological models were evaluated. The monitoring studies performed in Romania showed that all studied PhACs were naturally present at concentrations >0.01 μg/L, pointing out the necessity to perform further toxicity tests for environmental risk assessment. The toxicity studies were carried out on aquatic organisms or bacteria and they indicated, for most of the tested PhACs, an insignificant or low toxicity effects: lethal concentrations (LC50) on fish Cyprinus carpio ranged from 42.60 mg/L to more than 100 mg/L; effective concentrations (EC50) on planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna ranged from 11.02 mg/L to more than 100 mg/L; inhibitory concentrations (IC50)/microbial toxic concentrations (MTC) on Vibrio fischeri and other bacterial strains ranged from 7.02 mg/L to more than 100 mg/L. The PhAC aquatic risk was assessed by using the ratio between measured environmental concentration (MEC) and predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) calculated for each type of organism. The average of quotient risks (RQs) revealed that the presence of these compounds in Romania's aquatic environment induced a lower or moderate aquatic risk.
authors.affiliation: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology - ECOIND, 71-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei, 060652, Bucharest - 6, Romania. bioteste.ecoind@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gheorghe
authors.affiliation: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology - ECOIND, 71-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei, 060652, Bucharest - 6, Romania.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petre
authors.affiliation: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology - ECOIND, 71-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei, 060652, Bucharest - 6, Romania.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lucaciu
authors.affiliation: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology - ECOIND, 71-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei, 060652, Bucharest - 6, Romania.
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stoica
authors.affiliation: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology - ECOIND, 71-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei, 060652, Bucharest - 6, Romania.
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nita-Lazar
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D002347:Carps / Q000254:growth & development; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012383:Romania; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Aquatic risk assessment; MEC; PNEC; Pharmaceuticals; Toxicity