Toxicity determination of antiparasitics and antibiotics in the water by Vibrio fischeri bacteria

Rast ljudske potrošnje iz godine u godinu uzrokuje i povećanje upotrebe farmaceutika u svakodnevnom životu. To izrazito nepovoljno djeluje na okoliš, prije svega onaj vodni, uzrokujući njegovo onečišćenje. Problem se javlja pri nastojanju obrade takvih otpadnih voda jer se voda onečišćena farmaceuticima vrlo teško obrađuje klasičnim metodama obrade. Sve te činjenice, kao i nepostojanje zakonskih regulativa koje propisuju maksimalno dopuštene koncentracije farmaceutika u okolišu, nagnale su znanstvenike i brojne stručnjake na provedbu istraživanja koja su usmjerena na razvoj modernih tehnologija obrade otpadnih voda. Cilj ovoga rada je odrediti toksičnost čistih aktivnih supstanci antiparazitika (albendazol, febantel, prazikvantel) i antibiotika (cefdinir, nitrofurantoin). Prije određivanja toksičnosti farmaceutskih aktivnih tvari na okoliš, bitno je odrediti toksičnost njihovih čistih komponenti kako bi se lakše mogla pratiti toksičnost njihovih metabolita i razgradnih produkata u okolišu. Za određivanje toksičnosti primijenjena je bioluminiscentna metoda DIN 38412-L-34 koja za test organizme koristi bakterije Vibrio fischeri koje su osjetljive na organska onečišćenja i njihova prisutnost uzrokuje smanjenje njihove luminiscencije. Mjerenja su pokazala kako svi farmaceutici pri višim koncentracijama čiste komponente uzrokuju inhibiciju bakterijske kulture. Koja će se pak koncentracija uzeti kao granična ovisi o težini promatranog učinka. Kako za većinu farmaceutika nije poznato djelovanje nakon uporabe, potrebno je provoditi što više ovakvih mjerenja, prije svega za antibiotike i estrogene za koje se sumnja da opstaju u okolišu, bilo zbog nemogućnosti biološke razgradnje ili zbog kontinuiranog ispuštanja u okoliš.The growth of human consumption from year to year increases the use of pharmaceuticals in everyday life. This has extremely negative effect on environment, especially the water, causing the pollution. The problem occurs in the treatment of such waste water because the water, which contaminated with pharmaceuticals, is very difficult to process with conventional methods of treatment. All these facts, and the lack of legal regulations that prescribe the maximum permissible concentrations of pharmaceuticals in environment, prompted the scientists and numerous experts on doing researches which are focused on the development of modern technologies for wastewater treatment. The aim of this study was to determine toxicity of pure active compounds of anthelmintics (albendazole, febantel, praziquantel) and antibiotics (cefdinir, nitrofurantoin). Before determining toxicity of pharmaceutical active substances in environment, it is important to determine the toxicity of pure active components to help track the toxicity of their metabolites and degradation products in environment. To determine the toxicity was applied bioluminescent method DIN 38412-L-34 that as test organisms used Vibrio fischeri bacteria which are sensitive to organic contaminants which presence causes a reduction of their luminescence. Measurements have shown that all pharmaceuticals with higher concentrations of pure component cause inhibition of bacterial culture. What concentration will be taken as the limit one depends on the severity of the observed effect. As for the most pharmaceuticals is not known action after their use, it is necessary to implement more and more such measurements, especially for antibiotics and estrogens, which are suspected to persist in environment, either due to disability of biodegradation or continuous discharge