Toxicity Thresholds for Diclofenac, Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen in the Water Flea Daphnia magna

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 97; no. 1; pp. 84 - 90
• Main Authors: Du, Juan, Mei, Cheng-Fang, Ying, Guang-Guo, Xu, Mei-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: acetaminophen; Acetaminophen - toxicity; Animals; Anti-inflammatory agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - toxicity; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Pollution; Bioassays; Daphnia - drug effects; Daphnia - growth & development; Daphnia magna; diclofenac; Diclofenac - toxicity; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; ibuprofen; Ibuprofen - toxicity; lethal concentration 50; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; nontarget organisms; Pollution; reproduction; Reproduction - drug effects; risk; Soil Science & Conservation; Studies; Toxicity; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water Pollution Control; Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs; Chronic toxicity; Toxicity threshold; Acute toxicity; Daphnia magna
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-016-1806-7

Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been frequently detected in aquatic ecosystem and posed a huge risk to non-target organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects of three typical NSAIDs, diclofenac (DFC), acetaminophen (APAP) and ibuprofen (IBP), toward the water flea Daphnia magna . All three NSAIDs showed remarkable time-dependent and concentration-dependent effects on D. magna , with DFC the highest and APAP the lowest toxic. Survival, growth and reproduction data of D. magna from all bioassays were used to determine the LC10 and LC50 (10 % lethal and median lethal concentrations) values of NSAIDs, as well as the EC10 and EC50 (10 % effect and median effect concentrations) values. Concentrations for the lethal and sublethal toxicity endpoints were mainly in the low ppm-range, of which reproduction was the most sensitive one, indicating that non-target organisms might be adversely affected by relevant ambient low-level concentrations of NSAIDs after long-time exposures.