de Jesus Gaffney V1,
Mota-Filipe H1,2,
Pinto RA1,3,
Thiemermann C1,4,
Loureiro M5,
Cardoso VV5,
Benoliel MJ5,
Almeida CM6,7.
- 1Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences (iMed.UL), Lisbon, Portugal.
- 2Department of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
- 3Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
- 4The William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
- 5Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres, S.A., Laboratories and Water Quality Control Department, Lisbon, Portugal.
- 6Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences (iMed.UL), Lisbon, Portugal. calmeida@ff.ulisboa.pt.
- 7Department of Toxicological and Bromatological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. calmeida@ff.ulisboa.pt.
Abstract
The
water constituents that are currently subject to legal control are only
a small fraction of the vast number of chemical substances and
microorganisms that may occur in both the environment and water
resources. The main objective of the present study was to study the
health impact resulting from exposure to a mixture of pharmaceuticals
that have been detected in tap water at low doses. Analyses of atenolol,
caffeine, erythromycin, carbamazepine, and their metabolites in blood,
urine, feces, fat tissue, liver, and kidney after exposure to a mixture
of these pharmaceuticals in treated drinking water were performed. The
effects of this exposure were assessed in rats by measuring biochemical
markers of organ injury or dysfunction. Simultaneously, the selected
pharmaceuticals were also quantified in both physiological fluids and
organ homogenates by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
(performed in multiple reaction monitoring mode and full scan mode).
Following exposure of rats to a concentration of a pharmaceutical
which was 10 times higher than the concentration known to be present in
tap water, trace levels of some pharmaceuticals and their metabolites
were detected in biological samples. This exposure did, however, not
lead to significant organ injury or dysfunction. Thus, the authors
report an experimental model that can be used to characterize the safety
profile of pharmaceuticals in treated drinking water using a multiorgan
toxicity approach. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2674-2682. © 2016
SETAC.
© 2016 SETAC.
KEYWORDS:
Analytical toxicology; Chronic exposure; Organ toxicity; Pharmaceutical; Rat; Water quality
