title: Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of pharmaceuticals in food webs from a large freshwater lake.
abstract: Pharmaceuticals are increasingly detected in environmental matrices, but information on their trophic transfer in aquatic food webs is insufficient. This study investigated the bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of 23 pharmaceuticals in Taihu Lake, China. Pharmaceutical concentrations were analyzed in surface water, sediments and 14 aquatic species, including plankton, invertebrates and fish collected from the lake. The median concentrations of the detected pharmaceuticals ranged from not detected (ND) to 49 ng/L in water, ND to 49 ng/g dry weight (dw) in sediments, and from ND to 130 ng/g dw in biota. Higher concentrations of pharmaceuticals were found in zoobenthos relative to plankton, shrimp and fish muscle. In fish tissues, the observed pharmaceutical contents in the liver and brain were generally higher than those in the gills and muscle. Both bioaccumulation factors (median BAFs: 19-2008 L/kg) and biota-sediment accumulation factors (median BSAFs: 0.0010-0.037) indicated a low bioaccumulation potential for the target pharmaceuticals. For eight of the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in food webs, the trophic magnification factors (TMFs) were analyzed from two different regions of Taihu Lake. The TMFs for roxithromycin, propranolol, diclofenac, ibuprofen, ofloxacin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in the two food webs ranged from 0.28 to 1.25, suggesting that none of these pharmaceuticals experienced trophic magnification. In addition, the pharmaceutical TMFs did not differ significantly between the two regions in Taihu Lake.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; School of Resource and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
authors.forename: Zhengxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China. Electronic address: ghlu@hhu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
authors.forename: Jianchao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
authors.forename: Peifang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development of Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
authors.forename: Yonghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D003445:Crustacea / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D020387:Food Chain; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000378:metabolism; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D010933:Plankton / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Aquatic organisms; Pharmaceutical; Taihu lake; Tissue distribution; Trophic transfer