Abstract:
New Zealand’s estuaries and coastal areas are highly productive ecosystems, which cover a wide range in latitude and climate regions that results in a rich biodiversity. However, these environments are exposed to several pollution risks from human activities because the main cities are settled on these areas. One of these environmental hazards is the group of emerging organic contaminants which are being detected in various water systems worldwide but their effects on the receiving ecosystem are not fully understood yet. This study evaluated the toxic effects of selected emerging organic contaminants including substances present in some pharmaceuticals and personal care products on two representative New Zealand marine species, such as Evechinus chloroticus and Dunaliella tertiolecta. The endpoints were successful larval development and growing inhibition rate, EC50 and IC50 (effective or inhibitory concentration reducing development or growth by the 50% of organisms) respectively, after 96 h of chemicals exposure. The most toxic compound tested was triclosan with an EC50 for E. chloroticus of 0.022 (0.003 – 0.181) (μg/L) and an IC50 for D. tertiolecta of 5.927 (1.384 – 21.170) (μg/L). Bisphenol A was highly toxic for the sea urchin (0.309 (0.10 1 – 0.977) mg/L) and moderately toxic for the algae (11.213 (7.321 – 21.358) mg/L). Chloroxylenol was highly toxic for E. chloroticus with an EC50 of 0.501 (0.065 – 22.236) mg/L, but it was not determined for D. tertiolecta. Diclofenac and benzophenone did not show toxicity for D. tertiolecta with 466.291 mg/L and 46.212 mg/L, respectively. Reproducibility of E. chloroticus toxicity test system was confirmed and the results suggest that this organism is suitable as toxicity test, and that embryo development can be used as a testing endpoint. Key words: E. chloroticus, D. tertiolecta, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, ecotoxicology