Effects of six antibiotics and their binary mixtures on growth of Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata

•Effects of six antibiotics on Pseudokichneriella subcapitata growth.•Effects of antibiotic binary mixtures on Pseudokichneriella subcapitata growth.•Comparison among the CA and IA models, and the experimental results.•Risk assessment analysis using the PEC and PNEC values.

The effect of ampicillin (AMP), amoxicillin (AMX), cephalotin (CEP), ciprofloxacin (CPF), gentamycin (GEN), and vancomycin (VAN) have been examined individually and as binary mixtures, on a non-target aquatic organism, the green alga Pseudokichneriella subcapitata. The β-lactam antibiotics AMP and AMX were not toxic to the alga at concentrations up to 2000 mg l−1 (less than 10% of algal growth inhibition), whereas the fluoroquinolone CPF, and the aminoglycoside GEN were the most toxic antibiotics, with an EC50=11.3±0.7 mg l−1 and 19.2±0.5 mg l−1, respectively. The cephalosporin CEP and the glycopeptide VAN were less toxic than the last two mentioned, showing an EC50>600 mg l-1 and 724±20 mg l−1, respectively. The toxicological interactions of binary mixtures were predicted by the two classical models of additivity: concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA), and compared to the experimentally determined toxicities over a range of concentrations between 1 and 50 mg l−1. In all cases a clear synergistic effect was observed, showing that single compound toxicity data are not adequate for the prediction of aquatic toxicities of antibiotic mixtures. Risk assessment was performed by calculating the ratio between predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) and the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC). All the antibiotics tested, excepting GEN, have a potential ecological risk, taking into account the PEC of hospital effluents from Buenos Aires, Argentina. These risks increase when antibiotics are present in binary mixtures.