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(Bio)monitoring of pharmaceuticals in the Mediterranean aquatic environment and interactive effect with microplastics. Insights from field and laboratory studies
Summary
This biomonitoring study surveyed the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in Mediterranean aquatic environments, measuring concentrations in water, sediment, and biota across multiple sampling sites. Several drugs were detected at levels of potential concern for aquatic organisms.
ENG- Pharmaceuticals have been broadly detected in aquatic systems, including rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. Their widespread occurrence and accumulation in aquatic organisms have raised concerns about their ecotoxicological risks. In the aquatic environment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) co-occur with other contaminants of emerging concern, such as microplastics. Microplastics can act as vectors for chemical and microbiological contaminants in the environment, facilitating their transport into organisms, through the so-called ‘Trojan horse effect’. Nevertheless, the interaction between microplastics and PPCPs remains relatively unstudied compared to priority substances. This doctoral thesis aimed to investigate the sources, fate and temporal trends of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment, as well as the impact of co-occurring microplastics on the bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological effects of PPCPs. These aspects were assessed through field studies in two vulnerable areas from the Western Mediterranean (Mar Menor lagoon and Ebro River Delta) and in exposure experiments under controlled laboratory conditions. The results of this thesis demonstrated that pharmaceuticals are widespread in various environmental compartments (water, sediment, biota, plastic litter), mainly in freshwater ecosystems and to a lower extent in marine ones. While sediments represented a minor sink of these compounds, aquatic organisms (including river biofilms) accumulated a wide range of pharmaceuticals in both study areas. Therefore, biomonitoring (through different indicator species and tissues) is strongly recommended as integrative tool to overcome the limitations of grab water and sediment samples. Temporal trends were also revealed, such as seasonal and long-term variation (using historical data) in pharmaceutical occurrence, as well as the influence of a flash flood episode. Additionally, advanced analytical approaches based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (suspect screening) proved to be a good complement to target analysis, but it presented limitations as standalone methodology to assess pharmaceutical occurrence and environmental risk. Finally, controlled laboratory studies showed that although polyethylene microplastics were accumulated in marine and freshwater model organisms (Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and river biofilms, respectively), they did not influence the bioaccumulation and toxicological effects of PPCPs at structural (e.g. bacterial community of biofilms) or functional levels (e.g. alteration of mussels’ metabolome). In conclusion, this thesis provides new insights on the added value of (bio)monitoring and suspect and non-target approaches for the assessment of the environmental fate and risks of PhACs, as well as novel data to better understand the impact of combined exposure to PPCPs and MPs on the accumulation and toxicological effects of organic contaminants in model aquatic organisms, such as marine mussels and river biofilms
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