Cíntia Mara Ribas de Oliveira

Environmental risk assessment of antibiotics: an intensive care unit analysis.

Hospital effluents have been usually known by the microbiological pollution they cause, but only recently they have been considered a significant source of aquatic environmental pollution due to the presence of medicines in these effluents. In this context, an environmental risk assessment (ERA) is presented for the most used intravenous antibiotics in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital in Curitiba (Brazil). The amount of antibiotics used in the ICU was evaluated during 18months (June 2006 until November 2007), in order to calculate the Predicted Environmental Concentration (PEC1). Antibiotic excretion data (on its original form) and the removal of the selected drugs in the sewage treatment plants based on the activated sludge system were used to calculate, respectively, PEC2 and PEC2r. The Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) of pharmaceuticals was also considered to assess the environmental risk by calculating the PEC/PNEC ratios. All PECs were 1ngL(-1). The worst-case PEC estimations (PEC1 and PEC2) were observed for sodic ceftriaxone, sodic cefazolin, meropenem, ampicillin, cefepime and sodic piperacillin. PEC/PNEC ratios showed that, given the present pattern of usage, high aquatic environmental risk is expected for these antibiotics. Further studies should be carried out to elucidate their contribution to increasing antimicrobial multi-drug-resistant species.

Toxicity of AMPA to the earthworm Eisenia andrei Bouché, 1972 in tropical artificial soil

Aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) - one of glyphosate’s main metabolites - has been classified as persistent in soils, raising concern regarding the widespread use of glyphosate in agriculture and forestry. Glyphosate may have negative or neutral effects on soil biota, but no information is available on the toxicity of AMPA to soil invertebrates. Therefore our aim was to study the effect of AMPA on mortality and reproduction of the earthworm species Eisenia andrei using standard soil ecotoxicological methods (ISO). Field-relevant concentrations of AMPA had no significant effects on mortality in acute or chronic assays. Except at the highest concentration tested, a significant biomass loss was observed compared to controls in the chronic assay. The number of juveniles and cocoons increased with higher concentrations of AMPA applied, but their mean weights decreased. This mass loss indicates higher sensitivity of juveniles than adults to AMPA. Our results suggest that earthworms coming from parents grown in contaminated soils may have reduced growth, limiting their beneficial roles in key soil ecosystem functions. Nevertheless, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the sublethal effects observed here.

GC/FID-based authentication of Baccharis trimera: a quality control study of products commercialized in Curitiba and metropolitan region (Brazil)

Baccharis trimera (carqueja) is a medicinal plant used for stomach pain, bad digestion, heart bum, kidney problems and constipation. The objective of the present work was a quality study of carqueja commercialized in Curitiba and metropolitan region (Parana-Brazil) using gas chromatography techniques (GC/FID) for analyses of the essential oil, which was extracted through hydrodistillation using a Clevenger system. Macro and microscopic analyses were also done. Some samples were contaminated by other species of plants, fungi and small insects, some of them could be identified. Among all samples, 21 showed similar chromatographic profile to the standard oil, and 7 had different profile in relation to the standard. The chromatogram analyses showed that most of the analyzed samples had the similar profile as the standard oil of Baccharis trimera. GC/FID-based authentication of Baccharis trimera may be useful as a rapid tool to ensure quality control and safety monitoring of this kind of herbal pharmaceuticals.

Global review and analysis of erythromycin in the environment: Occurrence, bioaccumulation and antibiotic resistance hazards

Environmental observations of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals have received attention as indicators of an urbanizing global water cycle. When connections between environment and development of antibiotic resistance (ABR) are considered, it is increasingly important to understand the life cycle of antibiotics. Here we examined the global occurrence of erythromycin (ERY) in: 1. wastewater effluent, inland waters, drinking water, groundwater, and estuarine and coastal systems; 2. sewage sludge, biosolids and sediments; and 3. tissues of aquatic organisms. We then performed probabilistic environmental hazard assessments to identify probabilities of exceeding the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) of 1.0 μg L-1 for promoting ABR, based on previous modeling of minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimal selective concentrations of ERY, and measured levels from different geographic regions. Marked differences were observed among geographic regions and matrices. For example, more information was available for water matrices (312 publications) than solids (97 publications). ERY has primarily been studied in Asia, North America and Europe with the majority of studies performed in China, USA, Spain and the United Kingdom. In surface waters 72.4% of the Asian studies have been performed in China, while 85.4% of the observations from North America were from the USA; Spain represented 41.9% of the European surface water studies. Remarkably, results from PEHAs indicated that the likelihood of exceeding the ERY PNEC for ABR in effluents was markedly high in Asia (33.3%) followed by Europe (20%) and North America (17.8%). Unfortunately, ERY occurrence data is comparatively limited in coastal and marine systems across large geographic regions including Southwest Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central and South America. Future studies are needed to understand risks of ERY and other antibiotics to human health and the environment, particularly in developing regions where waste management systems and treatment infrastructure are being implemented slower than access to and consumption of pharmaceuticals is occurring.

Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) of diclofenac and ibuprofen: A public health perspective

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been widely used in human and veterinary medicine, representing potential aquatic environmental contamination. This study aimed to perform an Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) of NSAIDs diclofenac (Dic) and ibuprofen (Ibu) in cities of the state of Paraná, Brazil, over the course of three years, by using available data from the Brazilian Public Health System. The environmental risk (ER) was assessed by employing the European Medicines Agency (EMeA) approach, and predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were calculated. The refined PECs considered the drug metabolism and the excretion data, and also the sewage treatment plant removal rates of biological filters and activated sludge processes to define environmental scenarios. References to the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) for these pharmaceuticals were considered, and the PEC/PNEC ratio was calculated; ratio values ⩾ 1 suggested an ER. Environmental risk was conducted on several cities, and the lack of an adequate sanitation system in the majority of Paraná cities forecasts a significant concern with the exposure to possible environmental damages in those cities. The high PEC/PNEC ratios in several cities showed that current usage patterns of these drugs constitute an environmental issue in need of resolution by health and environmental authorities.

Adsorption of pharmaceuticals in water through lignocellulosic fibers synergism

The contamination of water from disposal of drugs is an emerging problem due to their consequences on trophic webs. This study evaluated the ability of sugarcane and coconut fiber to reduce water toxicity contaminated by pharmaceuticals. The toxicity of solutions containing pharmaceuticals was studied by bioassay using Allium cepa, before and after filtration of contaminated water. The coconut and sugarcane fiber have not been satisfactory in reducing toxicity when tested separately. Despite no induction of chromosomal aberrations, our study found a reduction of the mitotic index. The mixture of fibers showed better results providing total reduction of toxicity, in addition to maintenance in the mitotic index and induction of chromosome aberrations. The interaction between fibers and drugs was confirmed by Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analyses (TG/DTA) which presented differences in profile between the fibers before and after adsorption. The mixture of coconut and sugarcane proved viable for reduction of toxicity in contaminated water by a mixture of pharmaceuticals.

Genotoxicidade e Citotoxicidade da água do Rio Passaúna: Bioensaio com Allium Cepa e relação com níveis de cafeína

Os recursos naturais se tornam cada vez mais limitados, em consequenciada degradacao ambiental. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificarpossivel correlacao entre dados de genotoxicidade/citotoxicidade, viateste de Allium cepa, em amostras de aguas superficiais e determinacoesde concentracao do micropoluente cafeina. Analisando-se amostras deagua de um rio urbano, foi encontrada uma correlacao positiva, R = 0,504e p = 0,095, entre os valores de concentracao de cafeina na agua e o indicede aberracoes cromossomicas (IAC), obtido no bioensaio, representandocerta dependencia entre as variaveis. Os resultados de citotoxicidade egenotoxicidade apresentaram variacao no indice mitotico (IM) e aberracoescromossomicas (AC), respectivamente. Os resultados do bioensaio, quandorelacionados a presenca de cafeina, indicam a contaminacao por esgotocontendo substâncias que podem levar a essas alteracoes, por exemplo,farmacos. Demonstra-se, assim, a potencialidade do uso das tecnicas paraauxiliar nas tomadas de decisao para protecao dos mananciais.