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Dangerous connections: biochemical and behavioral traits in Daphnia magna and Daphnia longispina exposed to ecologically relevant amounts of paracetamol

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Abstract

Exposure of nontarget organisms to therapeutic agents can cause distinct toxic effects, even at low concentrations. Paracetamol is a painkiller drug, widely used in human and veterinary therapies, being frequently found in the aquatic compartment in considerable amounts. Its toxicity has already been established for some species, but its full ecotoxicological potential is still not sufficiently described. To characterize the ecotoxicity of paracetamol, the present study evaluated several parameters, such as acute immobilization (EC50 calculation), biochemical alterations, and behavioral effects, in two species of freshwater microcrustaceans of the genus Daphnia (D. magna and D. longispina). To increase the relevance of the data obtained, animals were exposed to levels of paracetamol similar to those already reported to occur in the wild. Data showed antioxidant responses in both species, namely an increase of catalase and GSTs activities in D. magna. On the contrary, effects of paracetamol on D. longispina included only an impairment of GSTs activity. Despite the absence of anticholinesterasic effects, behavioral modifications were also observed. This set of data indicates that realistic levels of paracetamol may trigger the activation of the antioxidant defense system of freshwater crustaceans, causing changes in behavioral traits (increase in swimming time, but with a reduction in swimming distance) of unknown etiology that are likely to affect normal life traits of wild populations.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Isabel Lopes for her contribution regarding her knowledge about the species D. longispina, which greatly improved the understanding of the obtained data. Bruno Nunes is hired by “ECO-R-pharmplast - Ecotoxicity of realistic combinations of pharmaceutical drugs and microplastics in marine ecosystems,” Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029203). This research was financially supported by CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020 + UIDP/50017/2020), by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), and by the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.

Funding

This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT (project ECO-R-pharmplast—Ecotoxicity of realistic combinations of pharmaceutical drugs and microplastics in marine ecosystems, reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029203). FCT also funded the research centre CESAM, in which the research was conducted (UIDB/50017/2020 + UIDP/50017/2020); CESAM was also co-funded by ERDF, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. None of these sources of funding had any role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in the writing of the manuscript.

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Ana Paula Sousa was involved in formal analysis; investigation; methodology; and writing of the original draft.

Bruno Nunes was involved in conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; project administration; resources; supervision; validation; and in writing, namely, reviewing and editing the manuscript.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript. 

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruno Nunes.

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Animals used in this assay are from an invertebrate species, which do not require previous ethics approval.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Sousa, A.P., Nunes, B. Dangerous connections: biochemical and behavioral traits in Daphnia magna and Daphnia longispina exposed to ecologically relevant amounts of paracetamol. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 38792–38808 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13200-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13200-5

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