Diclofenac is an important pharmaceutical present in the water cycle of wastewater treatment and one of the most distributed drugs in aquatic ecosystems. Despite the great interest in the fate of diclofenac in freshwaters, the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations on invertebrates are still unclear. Two species of freshwater invertebrates, the amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus and the bivalve mollusk Unio pictorum, were exposed to diclofenac concentrations of 0.001-2 μg/L (environmentally relevant levels) for 96 h. A set of biological endpoints (survival, fecundity, embryo abnormalities, respiration and heart rates, heat tolerance, and cardiac stress tolerance) were estimated in exposed invertebrates. Effects of diclofenac on amphipod metabolic rate and reproduction (number and state of embryos) and adaptive capacity (cardiac stress tolerance) in both species were evident. The oxygen consumption of amphipods exposed to diclofenac of 0.1-2 μg/L was 1.5-2 times higher than in the control, indicating increased energy requirements for standard metabolism in the presence of diclofenac (>0.1 μg/L). The heart rate recovery time in mollusks after heating to critical temperature (30 °C) was 1.7 and 9 times greater in mollusks exposed to 0.1 and 0.9 μg/L, respectively, than in the control (24 min). A level of diclofenac >0.9 μg/L adversely affected amphipod embryos, leading to an increase in the number of embryos with impaired development, which subsequently died. Thus, the lowest effective concentration of diclofenac (0.1 μg/L) led to increased energy demands of animals while reducing cardiac stress tolerance, and at a level close to 1 μg/L reproductive disorders (elevated mortality of the embryos) occurred. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:677-686. © 2021 SETAC.
Keywords: Biomarkers; Macroinvertebrates; Pharmaceuticals; Reproduction; Stress response.
© 2021 SETAC.