Determining potential adverse effects in marine fish exposed to pharmaceuticals and personal care products with the fish plasma model and whole-body tissue concentrations

Abstract

The Fish Plasma Model (FPM) was applied to water exposure and tissue concentrations in fish collected from two wastewater treatment plant impacted estuarine sites. In this study we compared predicted fish plasma concentrations to Cmax values for humans, which represents the maximum plasma concentration for the minimum therapeutic dose. The results of this study show that predictions of plasma concentrations for a variety of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from effluent concentrations resulted in 37 compounds (54%) exceeding the response ratio (RR = Fish [Plasma] / 1%Cmaxtotal) of 1 compared to 3 compounds (14%) detected with values generated with estuarine receiving water concentrations. When plasma concentrations were modeled from observed whole-body tissue residues, 16 compounds out of 24 detected for Chinook (67%) and 7 of 14 (50%) for sculpin resulted in an RRtissue value greater than 1, which highlights the importance of this dose metric over that using estuarine water. Because the tissue residue approach resulted in a high percentage of compounds with calculated response ratios exceeding a value of unity, we believe this is a more accurate representation for exposure in the field. Predicting plasma concentrations from tissue residues improves our ability to assess the potential for adverse effects in fish because exposure from all sources is captured. Tissue residues are also more likely to represent steady-state conditions compared to those from water exposure because of the inherent reduction in variability usually observed for field data and the time course for bioaccumulation. We also examined the RR in a toxic unit approach to highlight the importance of considering multiple compounds exhibiting a similar mechanism of action.

Adverse metabolic effects in fish exposed to contaminants of emerging concern in the field and laboratory

“…It is noteworthy that the CEC metabolites from the medium dose treatment fish (desmethyl-diltiazem and norfluoxetine) exhibited increases in concentration during the depuration phase indicating continued metabolic conversion of the parent compound. The estimated half-lives for azithromycin, diltiazem, and diphenhydramine determined in the high dose treatment of the present study are similar to other values reported for fish (Meador et al 2016; 2017). In addition, all half-lives reported in Table 1 are longer than those found in the literature for humans (except the perfluorinated compounds) as summarized in Meador et al (2016; 2017).…”

“…The estimated half-lives for azithromycin, diltiazem, and diphenhydramine determined in the high dose treatment of the present study are similar to other values reported for fish (Meador et al 2016; 2017). In addition, all half-lives reported in Table 1 are longer than those found in the literature for humans (except the perfluorinated compounds) as summarized in Meador et al (2016; 2017). The sum of all observed compounds in whole-body fish was relatively low ranging from 51 ng/g wet wt.…”

“…Metabolites were not included because of the continual conversion from parent compound during the depuration phase. An additional analysis included applying the Fish Plasma Model (FPM) to these data as described in Meador et al (2017). We predicted plasma concentrations with observed whole-body tissue concentrations and estimates for the volume of distribution.…”

A Call for Collaboration among Water Quality and Fisheries Professionals

“…Pharmaceuticals have been identified in fish tissues, demonstrating bioaccumulation (Meador et al 2017) and the potential for effects throughout the aquatic food chain. For example, a whole inland lake study of the synthetic estrogen 17α-ethynyloestradiol in Ontario, Canada, determined that small-bodied fishes were most affected, and that indirect effects cascaded through the aquatic food web affecting the top predator (Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush), as well as zooplankton (Kidd et al 2014).…”

Fisheries Volume 45 Number 3 March 2020

“…Pharmaceuticals have been identifi ed in fi sh tissues, demonstrating bioaccumulation (Meador et al 2017 ) and the potential for eff ects throughout the aquatic food chain. For example, a whole inland lake study of the synthetic estrogen 17α-ethynyloestradiol in Ontario, Canada, determined that small-bodied fi shes were most aff ected, and that indirect eff ects cascaded through the aquatic food web aff ecting the top predator (Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush ), as well as zooplankton (Kidd et al 2014 ).…”