Toxicity of Antiretrovirals on the Sea Urchin Echinometra lucunter and Its Predicted Environmental Concentration in Seawater from Santos Bay (Brazilian Coastal Zone)

• Published in: Resources (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 11; p. 114
• Main Authors: Cid, Renato Sakai, Roveri, Vinicius, Vidal, Diogo Guedes, Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta, Cortez, Fernando Sanzi, Salgueiro, Flávia Rigos, Toma, Walber, Cesar, Augusto, Guimarães, Luciana Lopes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 09.11.2021
• Subjects: Access to information; Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; antiretrovirals; Antiviral agents; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic environment; Aquatic organisms; Brazil; Chronic toxicity; Coastal zone; coasts; Developmental stages; Drug dosages; Echinometra lucunter; Ecological effects; Ecotoxicology; Efavirenz; Embryos; Environmental assessment; Environmental risk; Fertilization; guidelines; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immune system; Larval development; Nevirapine; ocean dumping; Organisms; Population; predicted environmental concentration; Public policy; Quotients; relative risk; Risk assessment; Seawater; subtropical coastal zone; Surface water; Toxicity; waste treatment; Brazil; South Africa; Rio de Janeiro Brazil
• ISSN: 2079-9276; 2079-9276
• DOI: 10.3390/resources10110114

Antiretrovirals (ARVs) have been detected in aquatic ecosystems throughout the world; however, studies focused on assessing their ecotoxicological effects on marine aquatic organisms are still rare. In the present study, the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of 13 ARVs was estimated for surface seawater from Santos Bay, Brazil, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) guidelines. The results indicated that all ARVs need to be assessed for their ecological effects, considering that they all exceeded the EMEA guideline limits (PEC > 0.01 µg L−1). In this sense, three ARVs (namely atazanavir, nevirapine and efavirenz) were selected for the acute and chronic tests with sea urchin (Echinometra lucunter). Furthermore, the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) for these three ARVs was also performed by calculating the risk quotient. The acute and chronic toxicity results showed inhibitory concentrations (IC) for the fertilization (IC50; 1 h; range: 11.46–84.61 mg L−1) and for the embryo–larval development (IC50; 42 h; range: 0.52–0.97 mg L−1) of the sea urchin, respectively. Moreover, the ERA showed that these three ARVs are potentially hazardous for aquatic life in Santos Bay, raising concerns about the continuous introduction of ARVs in aquatic ecosystems. The data presented may contribute to the provision of subsidies for the development of monitoring public policies that aim to reduce the introduction of ARVs into the aquatic environment.