Presence of pharmaceuticals in fish collected from urban rivers in the U.S. EPA 2008–2009 National Rivers and Streams Assessment

Abstract

Fish are good indicators of aquatic environment pollution because of their capability to uptake pollutants contained in water. Therefore, accumulation of pharmaceutical compounds in freshwater and marine fish and other aquatic organisms has been studied extensively in the last decade. In this context, the present study investigates the occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in wild fish from 25 polluted river sites in the USA, downstream from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Sample sites constitute a subset of urban rivers investigated in the U.S. EPA's 2008-2009 National Rivers and Streams Assessment. Thirteen pharmaceuticals (out of the twenty compounds analyzed) were quantified in fish fillets at concentrations commonly below 10ngg, in accordance with the findings from previous studies in the USA and Europe. The psychoactive drugs venlafaxine, carbamazepine and its metabolite 2-hydroxy carbamazepine were the most prevalent compounds (58%, 27% and 42%, respectively). This group of drugs is highly prescribed and rather resistant to degradation during conventional treatment in WWTPs as well as in natural aquatic environments. Salbutamol, a drug used to treat asthma, and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide were also frequently detected (in >20% of the samples). Occurrence of six pharmaceutical families due to chronic exposure at environmental concentrations in water was detected in eight fish species.

Uptake and Effects of the Beta‐Adrenergic Agonist Salbutamol in Fish: Supporting Evidence for the Fish Plasma Model

“…Salbutamol has been reported to occur in the aquatic environment, including detections in fish caught in Mediterranean rivers (above the detection limit of 0.07 ng/g in 2% of fish samples; Huerta et al ) as well as in US rivers (detected in 28% of fish samples; Huerta et al ). Concentrations measured in surface water were up to 4 ng/L in Spain (Gros et al ) and up to 13.9 ng/L in the United Kingdom with detection in less than 6% of samples (J. Wilkinson and A. Boxall, unpublished data).…”

Carbamazepine Degradation Mediated by Light in the Presence of Humic Substances-Coated Magnetite Nanoparticles

“…Perfluorinated compounds, pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, disinfection byproducts, sunscreens, paints, flame retardants, algal toxins, dioxane, pesticides and their degradation byproducts or nanomaterials are considered within this group [1,2,3]. The compound carbamazepine (CBZ, a psychiatric drug) is a CEC commonly found in natural waters, which is refractive to conventional water treatments and thus can be found in many rivers and streams [4,5,6]. For instance, CBZ was detected at concentrations ranging from ng L −1 to µg L −1 in samples of surface freshwaters taken from different rivers and lakes of Europe [7].…”

Determination of the Bioaccumulative Potential Risk of Emerging Contaminants in Fish Muscle as an Environmental Quality Indicator in Coastal Lagoons of the Central Mexican Pacific

“…The complete fish of each species were transported to the laboratory in frozen conditions (near −10 • C) where biometric data (weight and height) were reported. Each fish was partially defrosted (until muscle felt soft) and then muscle tissue samples (all pieces approximately 5.0 × 3.0 × 0.5 cm with skin and scale) were extracted from the ventral muscle of the fish [18]. Samples were individually stored at −16 • C to −18 • C in Nalgene airtight containers until use.…”