Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecotoxicity assessment of lipid regulators in water and biologically treated wastewater using three aquatic organisms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 17, pages 135–144 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Background, aim, and scope

The high consumption of blood lipid regulators is leading to frequent reports of the occurrence of fibrates in natural streams and wastewater effluents. This paper describes a study undertaken to evaluate the acute toxicity of bezafibrate, clofibric acid, gemfibrozil, and fenofibric acid, a metabolite of fenofibrate whose ecotoxicity has not been previously reported.

Materials and methods

The bioassays used were based on Vibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna, and Anabaena CPB4337 tests. Anabaena CPB4337 is a novel bioassay based on Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 strain CPB4337 bearing in the chromosome a Tn5 derivative with luxCDABE from the luminescent terrestrial bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens.

Results

The higher toxicity corresponded to fenofibric acid, with EC50 as low as 1.72 mg/l for V. fischeri. Gemfibrozil was also toxic for Anabaena sp. with EC50 of 4.42 mg/l. The study reports the results from toxicity tests using fortified real wastewater samples taken from the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant. The wastewater itself was found to be very toxic to Anabaena CPB4337 (84% of bioluminescence inhibition) whereas it did not have any negative effect on D. magna or V. fischeri. On the contrary, V. fischeri luminescence exhibited a stimulatory effect in wastewater.

Discussion

Except for fenofibric acid, the Anabaena bioassay was more sensitive than the D. magna and V. fischeri bioassays to bezafibrate, clofibric acid, and gemfibrozil. For the three toxicity tests, fortification resulted in lower measured toxicity for the four compounds, probably indicating a reduced bioavailability due to the interaction with other chemicals in the wastewater or with particulate matter. The observed decrease in toxicity associated to the use of a wastewater matrix was higher for the more hydrophobic compounds reaching one order of magnitude for bezafibrate and gemfibrozil.

Conclusions

The Anabaena CPB4337 bioassay revealed a certain risk associated with the three less toxic compounds tested. Based on V. fischeri and D. magna bioassays, bezafibrate and gemfibrozil would have been considered non-toxic and harmful, respectively. The use of EC50 data measured in wastewater increases the risk estimation.

Recommendations and perspectives

Cyanobacteria, as primary producers with a key role in the carbon and nitrogen cycles, are a substantial component of the microbial food webs. Any detrimental effect on this group may have a negative impact in nutrient availability to organisms of higher trophic levels and should be considered in ecotoxicity assessment tests.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Abbondanzi F, Cachada A, Campisi T, Guerra R, Raccagni M, Iacondini A (2003) Optimisation of a microbial bioassay for contaminated soil monitoring: bacterial inoculum standardisation and comparison with Microtox® assay. Chemosphere 53:889–897

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allen MB, Arnon DI (1955) Studies on nitrogen-fixing blue green algae. I Growth and nitrogen fixation by Anabaena cylindrica Lemm. Plant Physiol 30:366–372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andreozzi R, Marotta R, Nicklas P (2003) Pharmaceuticals in STP effluents and their solar photodegradation in aquatic environment. Chemosphere 50:1319–1330

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd GR, Reemtsma H, Grimm DA, Mitrac S (2003) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in surface and treated waters of Louisiana, USA and Ontario, Canada. Sci Total Environ 311:135–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buser HR, Müller MD, Theobald N (1998) Occurrence of the pharmaceutical drug clofibric acid and the herbicide Mecoprop in various Swiss Lakes and in the North Sea. Environ Sci Technol 32:188–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carballa M, Omil F, Lema JM, Llompart M, García-Jares C, Rodríguez I, Gómez M, Ternes T (2004) Behavior of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and hormones in a sewage treatment plant. Water Res 38:2918–2926

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cleuvers M (2003) Aquatic ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals including the assessment of combination effects. Toxicol Lett 142:185–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Comerton AM, Andrews RC, Bagley DM, Yang P (2007) Membrane adsorption of endocrine disrupting compounds and pharmaceutically active compounds. J Memb Sci 303:267–277

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Commission of the European Communities (1992) Methods for determination of ecotoxicity; Annex V, C.2, Daphnia, Acute toxicity to Daphnia, L 383A, EEC Directive 92/69/EEC, pp 172–178

  • Commission of the European Communities (1996) Technical guidance document in support of commission directive 93/67/EEC on risk assessment for new notified substances and commission regulation (EC) no. 1488/94 on risk assessment for existing substances. Part II. Environmental risk assessment. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Daughton CG, Ternes TA (1999) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment: agents of subtle change? Environ Health Perspect 107:907–938

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deryabin DG, Aleshina ES (2008) Effect of salts on luminescence of natural and recombinant luminescent bacterial biosensors. Appl Biochem Biotech 44:292–296

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • European Medicines Evaluation Agency (2006) Guideline on the environmental risk assessment of medicinal products for human use. London, Doc. Ref. EMEA/CHMP/SWP/4447/00

  • Fent K, Weston AA, Caminada D (2006) Ecotoxicology of human pharmaceuticals. Aquat Toxicol 76:122–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Pinas F, Wolk CP (1994) Expression of luxCD-E in Anabaena sp. can replace the use of exogenous aldehyde for in vivo localization of transcription by luxAB. Gene 150:169–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Pinas F, Leganes F, Wolk CP (2000) Bacterial lux genes as reporters in cyanobacteria. Methods Enzymol 305:513–527

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari B, Paxéus N, Giudice R, Pollio A, Garric J (2003) Ecotoxicological impact of pharmaceuticals found in treated wastewaters: study of carbamazepine, clofibric acid, and diclofenac. Ecotox Environ Saf 55:359–370

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gagné F, Blaise C, André C (2006) Occurrence of pharmaceutical products in a municipal effluent and toxicity to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatocytes. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 64:329–336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Halling-Sørensen B, Nielsen BN, Lanzky PF, Ingerslev F, Lützhoft HCH, Jorgensen SE (1998) Occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceutical substances in the environment, a review. Chemosphere 36:357–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han GH, Hur HG, Kim SD (2006) Ecological risk of pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment plants in Korea: occurrence and toxicity to Daphnia magna. Environ Toxicol Chem 25:256–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heberer TH, Stan HJ (1997) Determination of clofibric acid and N-(phenylsulfonyl)-sarcosine in sewage, river and drinking water. Int J Environ Anal Chem 67:113–124

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Henschel KP, Wenzel A, Diedrich M, Fliedner A (1997) Environmental hazard assessment of pharmaceuticals. Regul Toxicol Pharm 25:220–225

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hernando MD, Petrovic M, Fernández-Alba AR, Barceló D (2004) Analysis by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and acute toxicity evaluation for β-blockers and lipid-regulating agents in wastewater samples. J Chrom A 1046:133–140

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hernando MD, Agüera A, Fernández-Alba AR (2007) LC–MS analysis and environmental risk of lipid regulators. Anal Bioanal Chem 387:1269–1285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huber MM, Canonica S, Park GY, von Gunten U (2003) Oxidation of pharmaceuticals during ozonation and advanced oxidation processes. Environ Sci Technol 37:1016–1024

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization (2007) Water quality—determination of the inhibitory effect of water samples on the light emission of Vibrio fischeri (Luminescent bacteria test). ISO 11348-3 revised version, Geneva, Switzerland

  • Isidori M, Nardelli A, Pascarella L, Rubino M, Parrella A (2007) Toxic and genotoxic impact of fibrates and their photoproducts on non-target organisms. Environ Int 33:635–641

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen SE, Halling-Sørensen B (2000) Pharmaceuticals in the environment. Chemosphere 40:691–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kümmerer K (2001) Drugs in the environment: emission of drugs, diagnostic aids and disinfectants into wastewater by hospitals in relation to other sources—a review. Chemosphere 45:957–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambropoulou DA, Hernando MD, Konstantinou IK, Thurman EM, Ferrer I, Albanis TA, Fernández-Alba AR (2008) Identification of photocatalytic degradation products of bezafibrate in TiO2 aqueous suspensions by liquid and gas chromatography. J Chrom A 1183:38–48

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis DFV, Lakeb BG (1998) Molecular modelling of the rat peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor -α (rPPARα) by homology with the human retinoic acid X receptor α (hRXRα) and investigation of ligand binding interactions I: QSARs. Toxicol In Vitro 12:619–632

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin AYC, Plumlee MH, Reinhard M (2006) Natural attenuation of pharmaceuticals and alkylphenol polyethoxylate metabolites during river transport: photochemical and biological transformation. Environ Toxicol Chem 25:1458–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe CD, Koenig BG, Bennie DT, Servos M, Ternes TA, Hirsch R (2003a) Occurrence of neutral and acidic drugs in the effluents of Canadian sewage treatment plants. Environ Toxicol Chem 22:2872–2880

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe CD, Miao XS, Koenig BG, Struger J (2003b) Distribution of acidic and neutral drugs in surface waters near sewage treatment plants in the lower Great Lakes, Canada. Environ Toxicol Chem 22:2881–2889

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norberg-King TJ (1993) A linear interpolation method for sublethal toxicity: the inhibition concentration (ICp) approach program and user manual, version 2.0. US Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth National Effluent Toxicity Assessment Center Technical Report 03-93

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2008) Guidelines for the testing of chemicals, no. 23: guidance document on aquatic toxicity testing of difficult substances and mixtures, PDF Edition (ISSN 1607-310X), 18th Addendum

  • Packer JL, Werner JJ, Latch DE, McNeill K, Arnold WA (2003) Photochemical fate of pharmaceuticals in the environment: naproxen, diclofenac, clofibric acid, and ibuprofen. Aquat Sci 65:342–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez A, Rosal R, Perdigón JA, Mezcua M, Agüera A, Hernando MD, Letón P, Fernández-Alba AR, García-Calvo E (2008) Ozone-based technologies in water and wastewater treatment. In: Barceló D, Petrovic M (eds) Emerging contaminants from industrial and municipal waste (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry). Springer, Berlin, pp 127–175

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rosal R, Rodríguez A, Perdigón-Melón JA, Mezcua M, Agüera A, Hernando MD, Letón P, García-Calvo E, Fernández-Alba AR (2008) Removal of pharmaceuticals and kinetics of mineralization by O3/H2O2 in a biotreated municipal wastewater. Water Res 42:3719–3728

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson H, Johnson DJ, Wilson CJ, Brain RA, Solomon KR (2003) Probabilistic hazard assessment of environmentally occurring pharmaceuticals toxicity to fish, daphnids and algae by ECOSAR screening. Toxicol Lett 144:383–395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schabenberger O, Tharp BE, Kells JJ, Penner D (1999) Statistical tests for hormesis and effective dosages in herbicide dose response. Agron J 91:713–721

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheytt T, Mersmann P, Lindstädt R, Heberer T (2005) 1-Octanol/water partition coefficients of 5 pharmaceuticals from human medical care: carbamazepine, clofibric acid, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and propyphenazone. Water Air Soil Poll 165:3–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seco JI, Fernández-Pereira C, Vale J (2003) A study of the leachate toxicity of metal-containing solid wastes using Daphnia magna. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 56:339–350

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southman CM, Ehrlich J (1943) Effects of extract of western red-cedar hardwoods on certain wood-decaying fungi in culture. Phytopathology 33:517–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Stumpf M, Ternes TA, Wilken RD, Rodrigues SV, Baumann W (1999) Polar drug residues in sewage and natural waters in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sci Total Environ 225:135–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szittner R, Meighen E (1990) Nucleotide sequence, expression, and properties of luciferase coded by lux genes from a terrestrial bacterium. J Biol Chem 265:16581–16587

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tauxe-Wuersch A, De Alencastro LF, Grandjean D, Tarradellas J (2005) Occurrence of several acidic drugs in sewage treatment plants in Switzerland and risk assessment. Water Res 39:1761–1772

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ternes TA (1998) Occurrence of drugs in German sewage treatment plants and rivers. Water Res 32:3245–60

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • USEPA (1994) Short-term methods for estimating the chronic toxicity of effluents and receiving waters to freshwater organisms, 3rd edn. US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati EPA/600/4-91/002

    Google Scholar 

  • USEPA (2002) Methods for measuring the acute toxicity of effluents and receiving waters to freshwater and marine organisms, 5th edn. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC EPA-812-R02-012

    Google Scholar 

  • Weigel S, Kuhlmann J, Hühnerfuss H (2002) Drugs and personal care products as ubiquitous pollutants: occurrence and distribution of clofibric acid, caffeine and DEET in the North Sea. Sci Total Environ 295:131–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zurita JL, Repetto G, Jos A, Salguero M, López-Artíguez M, Camean AM (2007) Toxicological effects of the lipid regulator gemfibrozil in four aquatic systems. Aquat Tox 81:106–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education through grants CTM2005-03080/TECNO and CSD2006-00044 and the Comunidad de Madrid, grants 0505/AMB-0395 and 0505/MB/0321.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

    Roberto Rosal, Karina Boltes, Soledad Gonzalo & Alice Petre

  2. Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Ismael Rodea-Palomares, Francisca Fernández-Piñas & Francisco Leganés

Authors
  1. Roberto Rosal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ismael Rodea-Palomares
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karina Boltes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Francisca Fernández-Piñas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Francisco Leganés
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Soledad Gonzalo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alice Petre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto Rosal.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Christian Steinberg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rosal, R., Rodea-Palomares, I., Boltes, K. et al. Ecotoxicity assessment of lipid regulators in water and biologically treated wastewater using three aquatic organisms. Environ Sci Pollut Res 17, 135–144 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-009-0137-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-009-0137-1

Keywords

search

Navigation