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Toxicity of the mixture of selected antineoplastic drugs against aquatic primary producers

  • Fate and effects of the residues of anticancer drugs in the environment
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Abstract

The residues of antineoplastic drugs are considered as new and emerging pollutants in aquatic environments. Recent experiments showed relatively high toxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), imatinib mesylate (IM), etoposide (ET) and cisplatin (CP) that are currently among most widely used antineoplastic drugs, against phytoplankton species. In this study, we investigated the toxic potential of the mixture of 5-FU + IM + ET against green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and cyanobacterium Synechococcus leopoliensis, and the stability and sorption of these drugs to algal cells. Toxic potential of the mixture was predicted by the concepts of ‘concentration addition’ and ‘independent action’ and compared to the experimentally determined toxicity. In both test species, the measured toxicity of the mixture was at effects concentrations EC10–EC50 higher than the predicted, whereas at higher effect concentration (EC90), it was lower. In general, P. subcapitata was more sensitive than S. leopoliensis. The stability studies of the tested drugs during the experiment showed that 5-FU, IM and CP are relatively stable, whereas in the cultures exposed to ET, two transformation products with the same mass as ET but different retention time were detected. The measurements of the cell-linked concentrations of the tested compounds after 72 h exposure indicated that except for CP (1.9 % of the initial concentration), these drugs are not adsorbed or absorbed by algal cells. The results of this study showed that in alga and cyanobacteria exposure to the mixture of 5-FU + ET + IM, in particular at low effect concentration range, caused additive or synergistic effect on growth inhibition, and they suggest that single compound toxicity data are not sufficient for the proper toxicity prediction for aquatic primary producers.

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Acknowledgments

This study received funding from the Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement No 265264 (CytoThreat). The authors would like to thank to Mihael Bricelj, Katja Kološa, Karmen Stanič and Kazimir Drašlar for their assistance at the experimental work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tina Elersek, Sara Milavec, Maša Korošec, Polona Brezovsek & Metka Filipič

  2. Ecological Engineering Institute, Ljubljanska ulica 9, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Polona Brezovsek

  3. Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Noelia Negreira, Bozo Zonja, Miren López de Alda & Damià Barceló

  4. Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Ester Heath & Janez Ščančar

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  1. Tina Elersek
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  2. Sara Milavec
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  3. Maša Korošec
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  4. Polona Brezovsek
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  5. Noelia Negreira
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  7. Miren López de Alda
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  8. Damià Barceló
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  9. Ester Heath
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  11. Metka Filipič
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Correspondence to Tina Elersek.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Elersek, T., Milavec, S., Korošec, M. et al. Toxicity of the mixture of selected antineoplastic drugs against aquatic primary producers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 14780–14790 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-6005-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-6005-2

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