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Review
. 2018 Aug:239:129-146.
doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.012. Epub 2018 Apr 10.

A review of the pharmaceutical exposome in aquatic fauna

Affiliations
Review

A review of the pharmaceutical exposome in aquatic fauna

Thomas H Miller et al. Environ Pollut. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals have been considered 'contaminants of emerging concern' for more than 20 years. In that time, many laboratory studies have sought to identify hazard and assess risk in the aquatic environment, whilst field studies have searched for targeted candidates and occurrence trends using advanced analytical techniques. However, a lack of a systematic approach to the detection and quantification of pharmaceuticals has provided a fragmented literature of serendipitous approaches. Evaluation of the extent of the risk for the plethora of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals available requires the reliable measurement of trace levels of contaminants across different environmental compartments (water, sediment, biota - of which biota has been largely neglected). The focus on pharmaceutical concentrations in surface waters and other exposure media have therefore limited both the characterisation of the exposome in aquatic wildlife and the understanding of cause and effect relationships. Here, we compile the current analytical approaches and available occurrence and accumulation data in biota to review the current state of research in the field. Our analysis provides evidence in support of the 'Matthew Effect' and raises critical questions about the use of targeted analyte lists for biomonitoring. We provide six recommendations to stimulate and improve future research avenues.

Keywords: Bioconcentration; Fish; Invertebrates; Occurrence; Pharmaceuticals.

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Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overview of the analytical workflow for determination of exogenous or endogenous compounds from biological samples. The hyphenated arrow indicates that the work-flow can terminate after the application stage.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison of reported recoveries for pharmaceuticals using different sample preparation methods determined in (a) fish and (b) invertebrates. Extraction indicates the use of liquid extraction only followed by either centrifugation and/or filtration. Boxes represent the 25th, median and 75th percentile, whiskers represent 10 and 90th percentile and dots indicate outliers. Parentheses indicate the number of studies for each method.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Reported concentrations of different pharmaceutical classes determined in fish (a) tissues and (b) plasma or bile. The Other category denotes various pharmaceutical classes that were reported infrequently from the literature. Boxes represent the 25th, median and 75th percentile, whiskers represent 10 and 90th percentile and dots indicate outliers.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Reported concentrations of different pharmaceutical classes determined across various invertebrate species. The Other category denotes various pharmaceutical classes that were reported infrequently from the literature. Boxes represent the 25th, median and 75th percentile, whiskers represent 10 and 90th percentile and dots indicate outliers.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Reported accumulation of pharmaceuticals in fish and invertebrates determined in the field (in situ) and in the laboratory (in vivo). (a) comparison of reported whole body pharmaceutical accumulation in fish and invertebrates (invert) (b) comparison of reported pharmaceutical accumulation in different fish tissues determined in the laboratory and in the field. BCF/BAF axis label denotes that the value is either a BCF or a BAF. Boxes represent the 25th, median and 75th percentile, whiskers represent 10 and 90th percentile and dots indicate outliers.

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