Pharmaceuticals and personal care products alter growth and function in lentic biofilms

Author:

Shaw Lawton,Phung Chuyen,Grace Michael

Abstract

Environmental context Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are routinely found in waters discharged from treatment plants and in surrounding aquatic ecosystems. Despite the widespread occurrence of these biologically active agents, there is limited understanding of their potential effects on key ecosystem processes such as primary production, ecosystem respiration and algal growth. This paper examines the effects of five common pharmaceuticals on the rates of these fundamental processes. Abstract Pharmaceutical diffusing substrates were used to study in situ responses of aquatic biofilms in an urbanised lentic ecosystem to five pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs; caffeine, cimetidine, ciprofloxacin, diphenhydramine and metformin). The pharmaceutical diffusing substrates consisted of porous biofilm substrates placed atop a mass of agar amended with 2.5mM of the PPCP compound of interest. Over 21 days, biofilms growing on the substrata were exposed to slow diffusion of the PPCP through the agar and porous substrate. Algal biomass was suppressed by exposure to diphenhydramine (–81%) and ciprofloxacin (–50%). Gross primary production was completely suppressed by diphenhydramine exposure but stimulated by caffeine (+39%) and cimetidine (+46%). For heterotroph biofilms, community respiration was suppressed by exposure to diphenhydramine (–24%). To characterise PPCP exposure, rates of diffusion from the pharmaceutical diffusing substrates were measured at 10, 20 and 30°C. Diffusion was Fickian for all compounds and all temperatures. Diffusion coefficients, D, were in the range 1.5×10–10 to 1.1×10–9m2s–1. From diffusion data, average release rates over 21 days were typically 30–50ngmin–1cm–2 at 20°C. The results show that PPCPs can dramatically affect rates of key ecological processes, and the relationship between release rate and ambient concentration of PPCPs is discussed.

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

Subject

Geochemistry and Petrology,Environmental Chemistry,Chemistry (miscellaneous)

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3