Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Norfluoxetine Induces Spawning and Parturition in Estuarine and Freshwater Bivalves

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fluoxetine, a commonly prescribed antidepressant (Prozac), has been detected in sewage effluent. Its active metabolite norfluoxetine is more potent and has been detected in sewage influent and in fish tissues. We tested the effects of norfluoxetine on spawning and parturition in bivalves. Norfluoxetine induced significant spawning in zebra mussels and dark false mussels at concentrations as low as 5 μM. Norfluoxetine induced significant parturition in fingernail clams at 10 μM. Fluoxetine also induced spawning in dark false mussels at concentrations as low as 100 nM. Implications for environmental impacts of norfluoxetine and fluoxetine on native and exotic bivalves are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Armbrust K (2005) Occurrence, environmental fate, and exposure assessment of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in aquatic environments. (Abstract) United States EPA meeting on pharmaceuticals in the environment, Las Vegas, NV

  • Brooks BW, Chambliss CK, Stanley JK, Ramirez A, Banks KE, Johnson RD, Lewis RJ (2005) Determination of select antidepressants in fish from an effluent-dominated stream. Environ Toxicol Chem 24:464–469. doi:10.1897/04-081R.1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daughton CG (2004) PPCPs in the environment: future research beginning with the end always in mind. In: Kummerer K (ed) Pharmaceuticals in the environment: sources, fate, effects and risks, 2nd edn. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 463–495

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong PP (1998) Zebra mussel spawning is induced in low concentrations of putative selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Biol Bull 194:143–149. doi:10.2307/1543044

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fong PP, Huminski PT, D’Urso LM (1998) Induction and potentiation of parturition in fingernail clams (Sphaerium striatinum) by selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). J Exp Zool 280:260–264. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097010X(19980215)280:3<260::AID-JEZ7>3.0.CO;2-L

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hartke K, Mutschler E (1993) Deutsches Arzneibuch DAB 10-Kommentar, 10th edn, vols II and III, 3rd supplement. Deutscher Apotheker-Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Heltsley R, Cope GW, Bringolf R, Eads C, Shea D (2006) Prozac elicits spawning in native freshwater mussels. Annual meeting American Chemical Society, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry TB, Kwon J-W, Armbrust KL, Black MC (2004) Acute and chronic toxicity of five selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in Ceriodaphnia dubia. Environ Toxicol Chem 23:2229–2233. doi:10.1897/03-278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hiemke C, Hartter S (2000) Pharmacokinetics of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Pharmacol Ther 85:11–28. doi:10.1016/S0163-7258(99)00048-0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Lepp TL, Stevens R (2007) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in biosolids/sewage sludge: the interface between analytical chemistry and regulation. Anal Bioanal Chem 387:1173–1183. doi:10.1007/s00216-006-0942-z

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kolpin DW, Furlong ET, Meyer MT, Thurman EM, Zaugg SD, Barber LB, Buxton HT (2002) Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999–2000: a national reconnaissance. Env Sci Tech 36:1202–1211. doi:10.1021/es011055j

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon J-W, Armbrust KL (2006) Laboratory persistence and fate of fluoxetine in aquatic environments. Environ Toxicol Chem 25:2561–2568. doi:10.1897/05-613R.1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laine AO, Mattila J, Lehikoinen A (2006) First record of the brackish water dreissenid bivalve Mytilopsis leucophaeata in the northern Baltic Sea. Aquat Invasions 1:38–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe CD, Miao X-S, Koenig B, Struger J (2003) 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. doi:10.1897/02-627

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez AJ, Mottaleb MA, Brooks BW, Chambliss CK (2007) Analysis of pharmaceuticals in fish using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 79:3155–3163. doi:10.1021/ac062215i

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schloesser DW, Nalepa TF, Mackie GL (1996) Zebra mussel infestation of unionid bivalves (unionidae) in North America. Am Zool 36:300–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebastine IM, Wakeman RJ (2003) Consumption and environmental hazards of pharmaceutical substances in the UK. Trans IChemE 81:229–235

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Semsar K, Perreault HAN, Godwin J (2004) Fluoxetine-treated male wrasses exhibit low AVT expression. Brain Res 1029:141–147. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2004.09.030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seiler JP (2002) Pharmacodynamic activity of drugs and ecotoxicology-can the two be connected? Toxicol Lett 131:105–115. doi:10.1016/S0378-4274(02)00045-0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verween A, Vincx M, Mees J, Degraer S (2005) Seasonal variability of Mytilopsis leucophaeata larvae in the harbour of Antwerp: implications for ecologically and economically sound biofouling control. Belg J Zool 135:91–93

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Biology Department and Office of the Provost of Gettysburg College for funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, 17325, USA

    P. P. Fong & N. Molnar

Authors
  1. P. P. Fong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. Molnar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. P. Fong.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fong, P.P., Molnar, N. Norfluoxetine Induces Spawning and Parturition in Estuarine and Freshwater Bivalves. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 81, 535–538 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9558-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9558-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation