Pharmaceuticals May Disrupt Natural Chemical Information Flows and Species Interactions in Aquatic Systems: Ideas and Perspectives on a Hidden Global Change

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals consumption by humans and animals is increasing substantially, leading to unprecedented levels of these compounds in aquatic environments worldwide. Recent findings that concentrations reach levels that can directly have negative effects on organisms are important per se, but also sound an alarm for other potentially more pervasive effects that arise from the interconnected nature of ecological communities. Aquatic organisms use chemical cues to navigate numerous challenges, including the location of mates and food, and the avoidance of natural enemies. Low concentrations of pharmaceuticals can disrupt this "smellscape" of information leading to maladaptive responses. Furthermore, direct effects of pharmaceuticals on the traits and abundance of one species can cascade through a community, indirectly affecting other species. We review mechanisms by which pharmaceuticals in surface waters can disrupt natural chemical information flows and species interactions. Pharmaceuticals form a new class of chemical threats, which could have far-reaching implications for ecosystem functioning and conservation management.

Effects of environmental parameters on chytrid infection prevalence of four marine diatoms: a laboratory case study

“…In addition, further factors, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals (manmade anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, anti-depressants) present in coastal waters (e.g. Van den Wyngaert et al 2014, Van Donk et al 2016, pH values (theme complex: ocean acidification), and ultraviolet radiation may have significant effects on variations of the host physiology with secondary impacts on the host susceptibility to infections.…”

Widespread occurrence and potential for biodegradation of bioactive contaminants in Congaree National Park, USA

“…Designed-bioactive (e.g., pharmaceuticals, pesticides, hormones) organic contaminants originate from numerous human and agricultural-animal sources, are ubiquitous in surface water, and directly threaten the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems [1][2][3][4][5]. Pharmaceuticals generally target evolutionarily conserved (present in multiple species) molecular endpoints [6][7][8][9][10], exhibit high aqueous mobility [11,12] and pH-variable activity [13], and occur as complex environmental cocktails [14,15], resulting in multiple modes of action and a range of adverse outcomes in aquatic foodwebs [5,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Pesticides are designed biocides intended for direct environmental application, are widely observed in aquatic habitats, accumulate in surface-water sediment, and directly and indirectly threaten nontarget aquatic organisms including invertebrates, amphibians, and fish [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

Ösztrogének és ösztrogénhatású anyagok a növénytermesztésben

“…Öntözés esetén a 17αE2 koncentráció csökkenését, az E1 és a 17βE2 ekvivalens növekedését figyelték meg, mely a mikrobiális enzimek katalizálására enged következtetni (MANSELL et al, 2011). A talajban a 17βE2-bomlás üteme folyamatosan növekszik, ahogy a talajnedvesség megnövekszik, így száraz körülmények között az ösztrogének magasabb koncentrációban is fennmaradhatnak (MANSELL et al, 2011;XUAN et al, 2008 (ROSE et al, 2013), és indukálják a vitellogenin (VTG) termelését (KIDD et al, 2007), miközben megváltoznak a reproduktív tulajdonságok (VAN DONK et al, 2016). A vitellogenin a vitellin nevű fehérjének a prekurzora, mely a halak, kétéltűek és tojásrakó állatok kezdeti egyedfejlődési szakaszában játszik fontos szerepet.…”