Abstract
As one of the most frequently detected pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic environments, carbamazepine (CBZ) has recently been shown to cause acute and chronic toxicity in a variety of non-target aquatic organisms. However, little is known about the ecotoxicological effects it has on the molting and reproduction of crustaceans. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the acute and chronic toxic responses to CBZ in the crustacean Daphnia similis. After acute exposure (4 days), CBZ did not cause lethal toxicity at the tested concentrations. However, CBZ did inhibit the molting and release of chitobiase at concentrations higher than 6.25 μg/L, with 96 h EC50 (median effective concentration) values of 864.38 and 306.17 μg/L, respectively. The results of chronic exposure showed that the mean number of molts, size of the first brood, mean number of offspring per brood, mean number of broods per female, and total offspring per female decreased significantly with increasing CBZ concentrations. Significant effects of CBZ on the molting or fecundity in D. similis were observed even at concentrations as low as 0.03 μg/L. In conclusion, CBZ can cause inhibition of molting, delayed reproduction, and reduced fecundity in D. similis. CBZ toxicity to D. similis depends on the timing and duration of the exposure. Moreover, our results indicated that CBZ would act as an endocrine disrupter in D. similis, as with vertebrates (e.g., fish).
Highlights
In recent years, with advances in environmental analysis technology, a new class of environmental pollutants (pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)) has begun to receive widespread attention [1,2]
Inpresent the present the crustacean similis was used as a model organism to evaluate the acute and chronic toxicity of the small crustacean D. similis was used as a model organism to evaluate the acute and chronic toxicity pharmaceutical the molting reproduction in crustaceans
The results of the chronic exposure together with the acute exposure suggested that CBZ acts as an endocrine disruptor in D. similis
Summary
With advances in environmental analysis technology, a new class of environmental pollutants (pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)) has begun to receive widespread attention [1,2]. The concentrations are low in the environment, long-term pollution of PPCPs may cause endocrine disruption or reproductive toxicity to aquatic organisms, induce changes in biochemical functions of aquatic habitats, and do great harm to the environment [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Carbamazepine (CBZ), a heavily used pharmaceutical, is mainly employed for the treatment of epilepsy, arrhythmia, depression, and other diseases [6]. CBZ contamination has been found in ng/L to μg/L concentrations in sewage influent and effluent water, surface water, and even drinking water [11,12,13,14,15]. The concentration range of CBZ in the Shanghai sewage treatment plant was 230–1110 ng/L, and the maximum concentration in the Yangtze River was 1090 ng/L [11]
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