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Bioaccumulation of ivermectin from natural and artificial sediments in the benthic organism Lumbriculus variegatus

  • SEDIMENTS, SEC 1 • SEDIMENT QUALITY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

Although ivermectin is a widely used lipophilic parasiticide, data on its potential bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates are scarce. In this study, bioaccumulation patterns of radiolabeled 3H-ivermectin from sediments into tissues of the sediment-dwelling worm Lumbriculus variegatus were investigated and assessed.

Materials and methods

Two independent studies are described. In the first study, bioaccumulation kinetics of ivermectin in L. variegatus were investigated by following uptake, elimination, and biotransformation of the compound in worms exposed in artificial sediment. In the second study, possible effects of sediment characteristics on bioavailability of ivermectin were evaluated by comparing accumulation in worms exposed in three different natural sediments and one artificial sediment (organic carbon content 2% to 21%).

Results and discussion

During 28 days of exposure, ivermectin accumulated in worms exposed in all sediments with calculated bioaccumulation factors ranging from 0.2 to 11.0. Bioaccumulation factors correlated with total increase in biomass of worms during the exposure period and with organic carbon content of the sediments. Calculated biota–sediment accumulation factors ranged from 2.1 to 16.6, indicating that other variables, like quality of organic carbon and feeding behavior of the worms, may have influenced the bioavailability of ivermectin. Biotransformation products of ivermectin were only found in water, but not in sediment and worms.

Conclusions

Results show that ivermectin has potential to bioaccumulate in L. variegatus, which could indicate a risk for biomagnification of the compound in the food chain.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Karen Duis for her helpful comments on the manuscript. The studies were performed within the EU projects Keybioeffects (MRTN-CT-2006-035695), MODELKEY (511237-GOCE), and ERAPharm (SSPI-CT-2003-511135) of the 6th Framework Program, and project 214545 by the Academy of Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Böttgerstrasse 2–14, 65439, Flörsheim/Main, Germany

    Tineke Slootweg, Philipp Egeler, Daniel Gilberg & Markus Liebig

  2. Laboratoire de Pharmacologie-Toxicologie, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Toulouse, France

    Michel Alvinerie

  3. Department of Biology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Jussi V. K. Kukkonen & Arto J. Sormunen

  4. Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054, Frankfurt, Germany

    Jörg Oehlmann

  5. Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068, Koblenz, Germany

    Carsten Prasse

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  1. Tineke Slootweg
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  2. Michel Alvinerie
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Correspondence to Tineke Slootweg.

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Responsible editor: Henner Hollert

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Slootweg, T., Alvinerie, M., Egeler, P. et al. Bioaccumulation of ivermectin from natural and artificial sediments in the benthic organism Lumbriculus variegatus . J Soils Sediments 10, 1611–1622 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-010-0294-3

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