Acute and chronic toxicity of six anticancer drugs on rotifers and crustaceans

• Acute and chronic toxicity of cytostatics on rotifers and crustaceans were assessed.
• Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil had the highest chronic toxicity on all test organisms.
• This study contributes to cytostatic environmental risk evaluation.

The growing use of cytostatic drugs is gaining relevance as an environmental concern. Environmental and distribution studies are increasing due to the development of accurate analytical methods, whereas ecotoxicological studies are still lacking. The aim of the present study was to investigate the acute and chronic toxicity of six cytostatics (5-fluorouracil, capecitabine, cisplatin, doxorubicin, etoposide, and imatinib) belonging to five classes of Anatomical Therapeutic Classification (ATC) on primary consumers of the aquatic chain (Daphnia magna, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Brachionus calyciflorus, and Thamnocephalus platyurus). Acute ecotoxicological effects occurred at concentrations in the order of mg L−1, higher than those predicted in the environment, and the most acutely toxic drugs among those tested were cisplatin and doxorubicin for most aquatic organisms. For chronic toxicity, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil showed the highest toxic potential in all test organisms, inducing 50% reproduction inhibition in crustaceans at concentrations on the order of μg L−1. Rotifers were less susceptible to these pharmaceuticals. On the basis of chronic results, the low effective concentrations suggest a potential environmental risk of cytostatics. Thus, this study could be an important starting point for establishing the real environmental impact of these substances.