Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6309465 | Chemosphere | 2014 | 6 Pages |
â¢Sulfathiazole shows high stability in seawater with 18% degradation over 5 d.â¢Ulva lactuca reduced the concentrations of STZ in the water by efficiently taking up the drug.â¢U. lactuca kept the internal values constant most likely through a detoxification mechanism.â¢Sulfathiazole slightly inhibited the growth of U. lactuca after 96 h of exposure.â¢Macroalgae should be considered as potential bioindicator species in risk assessment of STZ.
Sulfonamides (SA) are a class of antibiotics routinely found in environmental matrices and therefore their role as contaminants should be investigated in non-target organisms. With this purpose the present experimental work has evaluated the exposure of the chlorophycean Ulva lactuca L. to sulfathiazole (STZ), a SA drug commonly used in aquaculture, at two concentrations representing prophylactic (25 μg mLâ1) and therapeutic (50 μg mLâ1) administrations. Results showed that STZ exhibits high stability in seawater with only 18% degradation over the 5 d assay at both dosages tested. Also, macroalgae demonstrated an efficient uptake capacity with constant internal concentrations after 24 h regardless of the external solutions and thus should be considered as a bioindicator species in risk assessment. Both STZ concentrations induced a slight inhibition of the macroalgae growth after 96 h.