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Status of pharmaceuticals in the Korle Lagoon and their toxicity to non-target organisms

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Abstract

The availability of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in surface waters and suspended solids/sediments presents an ecological hazard of chronic exposure to non-target organisms. Thus, water and sediment samples were collected from the Korle Lagoon in the west of Accra-Ghana city center to evaluate 35 medicinal drugs belonging to the main therapeutic classes and their toxicity to non-target organisms (i.e., fish, daphnid, and algae). High-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed to analyze the levels of PhACs in the samples. PhACs levels in water samples were higher compared to PhACs levels in sediment samples. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, tramadol, and Diclofenac were the PhACs that showed a higher frequency of detections and higher average concentrations. Diazepam, mefenamic acid, indomethacin, gemfibrozil, and glibenclamide exhibited a higher frequency of detections, but their average concentrations in both sample types were lower. The calculated risk index values for acetaminophen and ibuprofen suggested low ecological risks to fish, while tramadol showed medium to high ecological risks to daphnid. In contrast, acetaminophen and fenofibrate showed low ecological risks to daphnid. Additionally, the risk index values for fenofibrate suggested medium to high ecological risks to algae, while tramadol exhibited low ecological risks to algae. The other PhACs showed negligible ecological risks to non-target organisms. The calculated toxic unit values for each sampled site suggested a medium adverse ecological risk to non-target organisms. Based on the results obtained, the availability of PhACs in the studied area will have adverse effects on studied non-target organisms. The negative impacts of PhACs on non-target organisms may cause an imbalance in the food chain process, leading to a decrease in fish production and a reduction in fish quality. The result of this study is evidence of public health threat because the accumulation of PhACs in fish species may also cause some kinds of hormonal, chemical, and molecular changes within the various systems of the fishes to be toxic or unpleasant for humans’ consumption.

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana EPA), Ghana Food & Drugs Authority (GFDA) for non-financial supports, colleagues from the Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Department of Chemistry, University of Ghana, Legon—Accra and Faculty of Resource Science and Technology (FRST), Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia.

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The author is responsible for ensuring that the descriptions are accurate. Author contributed in multiple roles: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, etc.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Ebenezer Aquisman Asare

  2. Department of Nuclear Science and Applications, Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, AE1, Kwabenya-Accra, Ghana

    Ebenezer Aquisman Asare

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  1. Ebenezer Aquisman Asare
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Correspondence to Ebenezer Aquisman Asare.

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Ethical approval and consent to participate

The study was carried out in the University of Ghana, Legon—Accra, Department of Chemistry Laboratories. All samples were obtained after written informed consent with University of Ghana Research Ethics Board approval of the study in accordance with the Declaration of Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana EPA) and Food & Drugs Authority (GFDA) laws. The study was established following the approval of the University of Ghana Research Ethics Committee, number of UGDC/71105/2021-99.

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Asare, E.A. Status of pharmaceuticals in the Korle Lagoon and their toxicity to non-target organisms. Ecotoxicology 31, 299–311 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-021-02507-1

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