Occurrence, ecotoxicological effects and risk assessment of antihypertensive pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment - A review

This study presents a review of the investigated antihypertensives in different aquatic compartments. It aims to compare these data with those regarding ecotoxicity effects in order to find out ecotoxicological data gaps for these pharmaceuticals and to point out the need for future studies. In addition, part of this article is dedicated to the risk assessment of the parent compounds atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol and verapamil, which are of great environmental concern in terms of contamination levels and for which there are sufficient ecotoxicological data available. 79 articles were retrieved presenting quantization data for 34 different antihypertensives and/or their metabolites. Only 43 articles were found regarding acute and chronic ecotoxicological effects of antihypertensive drugs. The results indicated that the beta-blockers atenolol, metoprolol and propranolol are the antihypertensives most frequently detected in the aquatic environment. They are also the drugs which reached the highest maximum concentrations in surface waters in the data reported in the literature. The highest percentages of ecotoxicity data regarding antihypertensives were also related to these beta-blockers. On the other hand, there is clearly a lack of ecotoxicity data, especially the chronic ones, regarding other antihypertensives. The environmental risk assessment (ERA) showed that all three of the evaluated beta-blockers can pose a potential long-term risk for non-target organisms of both fresh and marine water species. However, more meaningful ecotoxicity data for antihypertensives, including saltwater species, are required to refine and enlarge these results. Additional studies focusing on potential interactions between pharmaceutical mixtures, including antihypertensives, are also an urgent need.