Fluoxetine can make marine organisms unhappy: a study on the sub-lethal effects on marine invertebrates

Authors

  • Guacira de Figueiredo Eufrasio Pauly Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), SP, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1921-3642
  • Alessandra Vallim Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Roberta A. Merguizo Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Gabriela Daniel Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Andressa Ramaglia Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Fernando S. Cortez Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Marcel C. Miraldo Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Erika G. Rojas Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Ana Carolina F. Cruz Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil
  • Denis M. de S. Abessa Instituto de Biociências, Campus do Litoral Paulista, Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5132/eec.2021.01.03

Keywords:

Ecotoxicology, marine assessment, sublethal effects, fluoxetine, Artemia sp., Echinometra lucunter

Abstract

The environmental effects caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs have been investigated for marine organisms and coastal ecosystems but are scarce in neotropical organisms. This investigation aimed to evaluate the sublethal effects of fluoxetine on the embryonic development of the sea urchin Echinometra lucunter and the survival and swimming behavior of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. The organisms were exposed to four different concentrations of fluoxetine (30, 300, 3000 and 30000 ng L-1) and to a negative control (filtered seawater), following the respective standard testing protocols. We verified a significant reduction of the embryos development to pluteus larvae, starting from 3000 ng L-1 (54.0±10.9% normal larvae), in comparison with the controls (83.5±3.1%). The non-observed effect concentration (NOEC) was estimated at 300 ng L-1, and the lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was 3000 ng L-1. In the behavior tests with Artemia sp, no significant adverse effects were reported for mobility, swimming speed and inactivity time. These results show that Fluoxetine can interfere on the development of species like the sea urchin E. lucunter, but short term exposure did not affected the swimming behavior of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. Fluoxetine presents thus a potential to affect marine biota and disrupt the equilibrium of the coastal ecosystems.

Downloads

Published

03-10-2021

How to Cite

Pauly, G. de F. E., Vallim, A., Merguizo, R. A., Daniel, G., Ramaglia, A., Cortez, F. S., Miraldo, M. C., Rojas, E. G., Cruz, A. C. F., & Abessa, D. M. de S. (2021). Fluoxetine can make marine organisms unhappy: a study on the sub-lethal effects on marine invertebrates. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Contamination, 16(1), 19–25. https://doi.org/10.5132/eec.2021.01.03

Issue

Section

Original Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)