Pharmaceutical and Chemical Compounds of Concern in Lake

ChamplainProject Team:

Aya AL -Namee, Lauren Jones, Tucker Kinne, Emma MalpesoExternal Advisor: Christine Vatovec

Project Advisor

Christine VatovecResearch Assistant Professor

Area of interest: -Human health and the environment

-Investigating the environmental and public health consequences of medical care

-Examining the human health benefits of nature contact

Current projects: -Dying Green: An Ecological Perspective of End-of-Life Medical Care in the U.S.

-Investigating Pharmaceutical Contaminants in Lake Champlain: Levels, Sources, and

Interventions

Background: Why Is this Important?

● >100,000 synthetic chemicals are in use (Stackelberg et al., 2007)

● >4000 pharmaceuticals are used globally

● As of 2007, more than 100 PPCPs were detected in environmental samples in drinking water

● Chemical-physical water quality parameters potentially altered by effluent and stormwater characteristicso Dissolved oxygeno conductivityo temperature

● Ecological integrity

● Research is important because …

Background: How PPCPs Enter Watersheds

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP)-Potential detrimental effects upon aquatic environments.

Three different case studies:

● PPCP research in Lake Michigan. (Ferguson et al., 2013)● Scientific study on anti-androgenic pharmaceuticals amongst fish

population. (Green et al., 2015)● Effects of synthetic progestins were researched in a synergistic

relationship with other hormone regulators. (Besse and Garric, 2009)● VIDEO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8iihsQYOos)

How PPCP Enter the Environment

Project Goals and Objectives

● Understand the effect of chemicals of emerging concern on water systems

● Research peer-reviewed literature for observed concentrations or detected levels of these compounds

● Report synergistic effects of the compounds

● Identify species that are affected by variable levels of PPCPs in water

Methods● 57 pharmaceutical compounds: Stimulants, Depressants, Pain Meds,

Organ-System Function Meds

● Search literature for individual and synergistic effects on aquatic ecosystems

● Take note of the concentrations found of the compounds

● Rank the compounds based on their potential negative impacts

DepressantsStudy by the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark looked at citalopram, sertraline, and fluoxetine (SSRIs, antidepressants)

*Individually, pharmaceuticals unlikely to impact biota due to low concentrations *cocktail scenario much more likely to have effect on aquatic biota,

-sertraline contributing most to the magnitude of the effect-study determined that concentrations in wastewater effluents are one to two orders of magnitude lower than the concentrations likely to cause an effect in the aquatic biota *High-performance liquid chromatography (Styrishave et al., 2011)

Antidepressant and their effects on native white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) in Boulder Creek (Colorado) and Fourmile Creek (Iowa)*chemicals fluoxetine, sertraline and their degradates found in the brain tissue of fish at low concentrations of ng/g.

*Different composition of antidepressant profiles in streamwater samples, sediment samples and brain tissue samples, *Some antidepressants are ingested more by fish than others. -Venlafaxine was the primary antidepressant in water and bed sediment, almost no Venlafaxine was observed in fish brain tissue

*Similar findings occurred in a study assessing fluoxetine (FLX) and norfluoxetine (NFLX) concentrations Japanese medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) (Schultz et al., 2010).

Stimulants Synthetic wastewater and chemical analysis performed creating a PPCP cocktail with 10 CEC’s (Osachoff, 2014)

Findings: ● Caffeine (CAF), ibuprofen (IBPF), naproxen (NAP) that have proven or suspected endocrine

disrupting activities

● Amphetamine-type stimulants have the potential to influence both the ecological function and ecological interactions in aquatic ecosystems disrupt catecholamine production/reception in mammals,and they may also disrupt catecholamines production or function in aquatic algae.

● green algae Ulvaria obscura contains catacholamine ● may act as a plant defensive compound against herbivores

Pain Medication● All literature found discussed data collected from

controlled experiments

● General findings: most pain medications had similar effects on aquatic organisms (individual and synergistic)

● Morphine: reduced serotonin and increased dopamine in freshwater mussels

● Hydrocodone, methadone, oxycodone, methocarbamol, tramadol: synergistic effect onsurvival and escape velocity of fathead minnows

USFWS, 2012

Pondboss Forums, 2013

Organ-System Function Case Study: Antiviral pharmaceuticals study in Pearl River Delta, China

● Six antiviral pharmaceuticals: Acyclovir, ganciclovir, oseltamivir, ribavirin, stavudine, and zidovudine, were investigated in wastewater, landfill leaching, river water, reservoir and well water near municipal landfills in Pearl River Delta, China.

● Out of the six pharmaceuticals, acyclovir was the only detected pharmaceutical in the wastewater, river water and reservoirs.

● Acyclovir concentration was 238 ng-1L in the influent and 154 ng-1L in the final effluent sample. This shows that the pharmaceutical persistency is higher than the other sampled pharmaceuticals.

Organ-System Function

How Can We Solve This Problem?(Recommendations)

● Take back days and proper disposal of drugs → incineration● Purify your water at home● Update Sewage Treatment Plant

o Advanced oxidation or membrane filtration to remove PPCP compounds from wastewater

● Most effective method: PREVENTIONo green pharmaceuticals o drug pharmaceutical makers to consider environmental impacts before new

drugs are put on the marketo design pharmaceuticals to fit the individual they are prescribed for.

fully absorbed by the individual, instead of unabsorbed portions of the pharmaceutical being excreted down the drain

Conclusions

● PPCPs are present in water systems and have an effect on aquatic organisms.

● The information that is available in the literature is very limited about the long and short term effects of PPCPs in watersheds.

● The United States needs to allocate more resources towards studying chemicals of emerging concerns.

● Consider Green Pharmaceutical Practices.

AcknowledgmentsOur team would like to thank our advisor Dr.Christine Vatovec for welcoming us in her office, teaching us about PPCPs, and helping us brainstorm project ideas. Many thanks to Dr. Breck Bowden for his guidance and support throughout process.

CitationsArnold, K.E., A.R. Brown, G.T. Ankley, J.P. Sumpter. 2014. Medicating the environment: assessing risks of pharmaceuticals to wildlife and ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 369[1656]. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0569. Accessed April 5 2015.

Boxall ABA, et al. 2012 Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment: what are the big questions? Environ. Health Perspect. 120, 1221–1229. (doi:10.1289/ehp.1104477)

Brooks, B.W., T.M. Riley, and R.D. Taylor. 2006. Water Quality of Effluent-dominated Ecosystems: Ecotoxicological, Hydrological, and Management Considerations. Hydrobiologia. 556[1]:365-379. DOI:10.1007/s10750-004-0189-7. Accessed April 5 2015.

Du, B., S.P. Haddad, A. Luek, W.C. Scott, G.N. Saari, L.A. Kristofco, K.A. Connors, C. Rash, J.B. Rasmussen, C.K. Chambliss, and B.W. Brooks. 2014. Bioaccumulation and trophic dilution of human pharmaceuticals across trophic positions of an effluent-dependent wade-able stream. Philosophical Transaction Royal Society B. 369[1656]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0058. Accessed April 8 2015.

Gagne, F., Andre, C. and M. Gelinas. 2010. Neurochemical effects of benzodiazepine and morphine on freshwater mussels. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Toxicology and Pharmacology. 152[2]:207-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpc.2010.04.007. Accessed March 27 2015.

Osachoff, H.L., Mohammadali, M., Skirrow, R.C., Hall, E.R., Brown, L.L.Y., Aggelen, G.C., Kennedy, C.J. and C.C. Helbing. 2014. Evaluating the treatment of a synthetic wastewater containing a pharmaceutical and personal care product chemical cocktail: Compound removal efficiency and effects on juvenile rainbow trout, Water Research 62[1]:271-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.05.057. Accessed March 30 2015.

Rearick, Daniel C. 2013. Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Larval exposure reduces predator escape performance and alters Fathead minnow survival. St. Cloud State University. http://www.stcloudstate.edu/graduatestudies/overview/documents/DanRearickThesis.pdf. Accessed March 23 2015.

Schultz, M.M., Furlong, E.T., Kolpin, D.W., Werner, S.L., Schoenfuss, H.L., Barber, L.B., Blazer, V.S., Norris, D.O., and A.M. Vajda. 2010. Antidepressant pharmaceuticals in two U.S. effluent-impacted streams: occurrence and fate in water and sediment, and selective uptake in fish neural tissue. Environmental Science & Technology. 44[6]: 1918–1925. DOI: 10.1021/es9022706. Accessed March 12 2015.

Stackelberg, P.E., J. Gibs, E.T. Furlong, M.T. Meyer, S.D. Zaugg, and R.L. Lippincott. 2007. Efficiency of conventional drinking-water-treatment processes in removal of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. Science of The Total Environment, 377, [2–3]:255-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.01.095. Accessed April 7 2015. Styrishave, B., Halling-Sørensen, B. and F. Ingerslev. 2011. Environmental risk assessment of three selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the aquatic environment: A case study including a cocktail scenario. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 30[1]: 254–261. DOI: 10.1002/etc.372. Accessed March 28 2015.