Toxicity of anthelmintic drugs (fenbendazole and flubendazole) to aquatic organisms

Abstract

Flubendazole (FLU) and fenbendazole (FEN) belong to benzimidazoles—pharmaceuticals widely used in veterinary and human medicine for the treatment of intestinal parasites as well as for the treatment of systemic worm infections. In recent years, usage of these drugs increased, which resulted in a larger contamination of the environment and possible negative effects on biota. Hence, in our research, we investigated an aquatic ecotoxicity of these pharmaceuticals towards: marine bacteria (Vibrio fischeri), green algae (Scenedesmus vacuolatus), duckweed (Lemna minor) and crustacean (Daphnia magna). Ecotoxicity tests were combined with chemical analysis in order to investigate the actual exposure concentration of the compounds used in the experiment as well as to stability and adsorption studies. As a result, study evaluating sensitivity of different aquatic organisms to these compounds and new ecotoxicological data is presented. The strongest negative impact of FLU and FEN was observed to D. magna.

Evaluation of drug uptake and deactivation in plant: Fate of albendazole in ribwort plantain (Plantago laceolata) cells and regenerants

“…For this reason ABZ as well as other anthelmintics have been classified as emerging environmental contaminants (Wagil et al, 2015). The negative environmental effects of benzimidazole drugs have been described many times.…”

“…The negative environmental effects of benzimidazole drugs have been described many times. Comprehensive studies, for example, have revealed the toxicity of benzimidazoles to different aquatic organisms (Wagil et al, 2015) (Bunduschuh et al, 2016). ABZ can also severely affect earthworms living in soil (Wang et al, 2009).…”

Detection, Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Contaminants in Agricultural Environments

“…Wagil et al (2015) evaluated the ecotoxicity of two anthelmintic drugs (fenbendazole–FEN and flubendazole–FLU) towards different aquatic organisms: luminescent marine bacteria ( Vibrio fischeri ), lumnic inicellular green algae ( Scenedesmus vacuolatus ), duckweed ( Lemna minor ) and crustacean ( Daphnia magna ). Daphnia magna appeared to be the most sensitive organism with EC 50 values for FLU and FEN of 45 μg/L and 19 μg/L, respectively.…”

Caenorhabditis elegans: a model to study the anthelmintic effects of polyphenolic compounds on the fertility of parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes?

“…Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) represent an important disease within livestock's´ productive systems. The generalization and overuses of therapeutic drugs have prompted a high prevalence of multi-drug resistances within target parasitic population impacting small ruminant production systems (Torres-Acosta and Hoste, 2008), animal health (Jackson et al, 2012;Kaplan and Vidyashankar, 2012;Waller, 2007), persuading environmental risks (Beynon, 2012;Horvat et al, 2012;Wagil et al, 2015), and consumers concerns (Whelan et al, 2012). Resistances against the major families of anthelmintics represent a worldwide phenomenon to overcome to preserve the effectiveness of the anthelmintics (AHs).…”