Single and combined toxicity of pharmaceuticals at environmentally relevant concentrations in Daphnia magna – A multigenerational study

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals are continuously discharged into the environment, resulting in the chronic exposure of aquatic organisms to these compounds. In this multigenerational study, we examined the influence of four pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine (CBZ), diclofenac (DIC), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and metoprolol (MET)) as single substances and as a drug mixture at environmentally relevant concentrations on life-history and morphological parameters over six generations of the cladoceran Daphnia magna. Detectable effects of the used pharmaceuticals occured in the first observed generation, followed by an acclimation period and a recurrence of drug effects in later generations: daphnids exposed to MET were affected by the pharmaceutical, resulting in a decreased body length at first reproduction in the generations F0, F3 and F4 and in a reduced number of offspring in the generations F0 and F4. Similar effects were observed in daphnids exposed to EE2. DIC delayed age at first reproduction in the F0 and F2 generations and increased the body length of neonates in the generations F1 and F5. Daphnids exposed to CBZ showed a delay in the age at first reproduction for the F0 generation only. The drug mixture reduced the age at first reproduction of daphnids in the F0 and F2 generation and increased the body length at first reproduction in the generations F0 and F3. Neither the single drugs nor the pharmaceutical mixture influenced the successive generations of D. magna in a steady way. Thus, multigenerational studies are necessary to prevent insufficient assessments on the impact of pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystems.