Effects of two pharmaceuticals: Doxycycline and norfloxacin on plant and animal organisms living in the freshwater

Abstract

The main reason for the appearance of pharmaceutical compounds in the aquatic environment is their regular excretion by humans and animals in an unchanged form or slightly metabolized. Pharmaceuticals limit the habitable living environment for aquatic organisms, because they can be toxic not only to bacteria but also to non-target organisms. Plants of the Lemnoideae subfamily and crustaceans Daphniindae family are widely used as bioindicators in freshwater environmental risk assessments. This study aimed to use biotests (Lemna test and Daphtoxkit) to determine the effect of two pharmaceuticals: antibiotic – Doxycycline (DOX) and semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic drug – Norfloxacin (NOR) on plants Lemna minor and crustaceans Daphnia magna. Standard Lemna test was extended to include pharmaceutical effects on plant chlorophyll content (LCC) and fluorescence (Fo, Fm, and Fv/Fm), and the confirmation of drug toxicity was the biotest Daphtoxkit assessing the immobilization (IM) of organisms. Studies have shown that DOX was more toxic than NOR on tested aquatic organisms: plants and crustaceans. The lowest observed effect concentration (EC₂₀) of DOX and NOR reduced by 20 % LCC and Iy of L. minor was 2.14 and 8.11 mg × L ^{− 1}, respectively. The LCC was an early and sensitive indicator of the phytotoxic effects of DOX in L. minor before morphological changes were observed. Confirmation of drug toxicity was the Daphtoxkit. The EC₂₀ (180. min) of DOX and NOR, IM of daphnia by 20 % was 117.18 and 215.42 mg × L ^{− 1}, respectively. In conclusion, DOX and NOR in aquatic environments may have significant implications for tested organisms and their ecosystems.