Toxicity and bioaccumulation of sulphadimethoxine inArtemia (Crustacea, Anostraca)

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of sulphonamide pollution in marine and brackish systems, and to assess the utility of a recently proposed test protocol, sulphadimethoxine toxicity was measured using naupli and cysts of anArtemia species. Nauplii mortality, evaluated between 24 and 96 h, indicated a relatively high toxicity of sulphadimethoxine toArtemia (96 h LC50= 19.5 mg L−1). In addition, test on cysts demonstrated that a nominal concentration of 300 mg L−1 sulphadimethoxine significantly depressed hatching. Toxicity could depend on the high bioaccumulation rate of sulphadimethoxine measured in the organisms. The role of these tests in assessing the environmental risks of intensive farming and in determining suitable standards to improve water quality criteria is discussed together with the possible utilization of bioaccumulatingArtemia as ‘medicated feed’.