Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF09048
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(2)

Effects of a pharmaceutical mixture at environmentally relevant concentrations on the amphipod Gammarus fossarum

Sabine Dietrich A C , Shana Dammel A , Florian Ploessl B , Franz Bracher B and Christian Laforsch A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Großhaderner Straße 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.

B Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Butenandtstraße 5, 81377 Munich, Germany.

C Corresponding author. Email: dietrich@biologie.uni-muenchen.de

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(2) 196-203 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09048
Submitted: 6 March 2009  Accepted: 30 July 2009   Published: 25 February 2010

Abstract

The continuous discharge of pharmaceuticals into the environment results in the chronic exposure of aquatic organisms to complex drug mixtures. We examined the influence of a mixture of pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine (CBZ), diclofenac (DIC), metoprolol (MET) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2)) at environmentally relevant (‘env’) and artificially high (‘high’) concentrations on Gammarus fossarum. Different sublethal responses such as moulting, reproduction and the content of the energy-storage component glycogen were analysed. The drug mixture influenced the moulting behaviour of gammarids at both the ‘env’ and ‘high’ concentration levels, leading to a discontinuous increase of body length in successive moults, compared with the constant increase of body length in the control treatment. Moreover, the time between successive moults of animals exposed to the ‘env’ and ‘high’ pharmaceutical concentrations was decreased because of shortened intermoult periods. We observed no significant impact of the pharmaceuticals on reproduction. In addition, the content of glycogen was not significantly affected by the drug mixture. Permanent exposure of G. fossarum to a wider range of pharmaceuticals in natural aquatic systems may influence moulting behaviour and accompanied life-history parameters, followed by severe ecological consequences as gammarids play an important role in many freshwater ecosystems of the northern hemisphere.

Additional keywords: amphipoda, life-history traits, micropollutants.


Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by a PhD scholarship from Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes to Sabine Dietrich. We thank Jonathan Jeschke and Carola Winkelmann for advice, Mechthild Kredler for assistance in the laboratory, Jennifer Lohr for linguistic improvements and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript. The handling procedure of the amphipods was done in accordance with institutional guidelines.


References

Adler, P. , Steger-Hartmann, T. , and Kalbfus, W. (2001). Vorkommen natürlicher und synthetischer östrogener Steroide in Wässern des süd- und mitteldeutschen Raumes. Acta Hydrochimica et Hydrobiologica 29, 227–241.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Bergmeyer H. U. (1985). ‘Methods of Enzymatic Analysis. Vol. VI.’ (Verlag Chemie: Weinheim, Germany.)

Blockwell, S. J. , Taylor, E. J. , Jones, I. , and Pascoe, D. (1998). The influence of fresh water pollutants and interaction with Asellus aquaticus (L.) on the feeding activity of Gammarus pulex (L.). Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 34, 41–47.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Eggers T. O., and Martens A. (2001). ‘Bestimmungsschlüssel der Süßwasser-Amphipoda (Crustacea) Deutschlands.’ (Lauterbornia 42: Dinkelscherben, Germany.)

Elwood, R. , Gibson, J. , and Neil, S. (1987). The amorous Gammarus: size assortative mating in G. pulex. Animal Behaviour 35, 1–6.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | OECD (2004). OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals, no. 219. Sediment-water Chironomid toxicity test using spiked water. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.

Oetken, M. , Nentwig, G. , Löffler, D. , Ternes, T. , and Oehlmann, J. (2005). Effects of pharmaceuticals on aquatic invertebrates. Part I. The antiepileptic drug carbamazepine. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 49, 353–361.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Rohweder U. (2003). Arzneimittel in der Umwelt, Auswertung der Untersuchungsergebnisse. Bund/Länderausschuss für Chemikaliensicherheit (BLAC), Bericht an die 61. Umweltministerkonferenz, Hamburg, Gemany.

Schill, R. O. , and Köhler, H. R. (2004). Does the environment or the source of the population define stress status and energy supply in the freshwater amphipod, Gammarus fossarum? Ecotoxicology 13, 683–695.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Sengl M., and Schüssler W. (2004). Arzneimittel in der Umwelt. Bayerisches Landesamt für Wasserwirtschaft, Schlußbericht, München, Germany.

Sheader, M. (1983). The reproductive biology and ecology of Gammarus duebeni (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in southern England. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 63, 517–540.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sheader, M. (1996). Factors influencing egg size in the gammarid amphipod Gammarus insensibilis. Marine Biology 124, 519–526.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sutcliffe, D. W. , Carrick, T. R. , and Willoughby, L. G. (1981). Effects of diet, body size, age and temperature on growth rates in the amphipod Gammarus pulex. Freshwater Biology 11, 183–214.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ternes, T. A. (1998). Occurrence of drugs in German sewage treatment plants and rivers. Water Research 32, 3245–3260.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS |

Triebskorn, R. , Casper, H. , Heyd, A. , Eikemper, R. , and Köhler, H. R. , et al. (2004). Toxic effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac Part II. Cytological effects in liver, kidney, gills and intestine of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Aquatic Toxicology 68, 151–166.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed |

Ward, P. I. (1983). Advantages and a disadvantage of large size for male Gammarus pulex (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 14, 69–76.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Winkelmann, C. , and Koop, J. H. E. (2007). The management of metabolic energy storage during the life cycle of mayflies: a comparative field investigation of the collector-gatherer Ephemera danica and the scraper Rhithrogena semicolorata. Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 177, 119–128.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |

Winkelmann, C. , Worischka, S. , Koop, J. H. E. , and Benndorf, J. (2007). Predation effects of benthivorous fish on grazing and shredding macroinvertebrates in a detritus-based stream food web. Limnologica 37, 121–128.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Zou, E. M. , and Fingerman, M. (1997). Effects of estrogenic xenobiotics on molting of the water flea, Daphnia magna. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 38, 281–285.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed |