Toxicity tests using flurbiprofen, naproxen, propranolol, and carbamazepine on Lepidium sativum, Daphnia magna, and Aliivibrio fischeri

Abstract

The residues of active pharmaceutical ingredients present risk to the environment and can cause health problems. In this study, the toxicities of flurbiprofen, naproxen Na, propranolol HCl, and carbamazepine, all of which belong to the most frequently used analgesic, beta-blocker, and antiepileptic drugs, were investigated. Toxicity tests were conducted using a watercress (Lepidium sativum), a freshwater invertebrate (Daphnia magna), and a luminescent bacterium (Aliivibrio fischeri). The various biological test methods used in this study were compared in terms of the sensitivity of these species to the drugs tested. When the three toxicity-test results were analyzed, different sensitivities were determined in the synthetic pharmaceutical wastewater samples that had different characteristics. In general, D. magna was the most sensitive among the test organisms, A. fischeri was the second most sensitive, and L. sativum was the least sensitive. The results showed that all four micropollutants were capable of causing toxicity in luminescent bacteria, a freshwater invertebrate and in watercress with a 50% effective concentration of similar to 1.9 to 50 mg/L. In particular, flurbiprofen had a more toxic effect than the substances in all the toxicity tests.