Effects of the human pharmaceutical gemfibrozil on fish Sparus aurata
Resumo
The growing use of pharmaceutical products is becoming a new environmental problem. The occurrence and fate of pharmaceutically active compounds in the aquatic environment has been recognized as one of the emerging issues in environmental chemistry. Blood lipid lowering agents are among the most commonly found drugs in the aquatic environment. Gemfibrozil, one of the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals from this class, may be considered a high priority pharmaceutical on the basis of its consumption, physico-chemical properties, environmental occurrence and persistence. However, little is known about the aquatic toxicity of gemfibrozil. Therefore, short-term exposure of Sparus aurata to dissimilar concentrations of gemfibrozil, including environmentally relevant concentrations was performed and behavioral and biochemical responses were assessed as endpoints.