Toxicity assessment of five emerging pollutants, alone and in binary or ternary mixtures, towards three aquatic organisms

Despite a growing scientific attention on ecological impact of emerging pollutants (EPs) such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and pesticides, knowledge gaps remain regarding mixture toxicity and effects on aquatic organisms. Several EPs were screened in seawater (Normandy, France), and the ecotoxicity of five compounds, chosen on their occurrence in ecosystems and use worldwide, was assessed and were the biocides methylparaben (MP) and triclosan (TCS), a pesticide degradation product (AMPA), and the pharmaceuticals venlafaxine (VEN) and carbamazepine (CBZ). The acute or sub-chronic toxicity, alone or in binary/ternary mixtures of three of them (CBZ, AMPA, and MP), was assessed on one marine and two freshwater organisms: Crassostrea gigas, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, and Daphnia magna. TCS and AMPA were, respectively, the most (EC50 < 1 mg L−1) and the least (EC50 > 50 mg L−1) toxic chemicals for the four endpoints (algal growth inhibition, daphnia immobilization, oyster embryotoxicity, and metamorphosis). The anxiolytic VEN (EC50 < 1 mg L−1) was particularly toxic to oyster larvae showing sensitivity difference between freshwater and marine organisms. If all the mixtures appeared to be in the same range of toxicity, the joint-toxic effects mainly led to synergistic or antagonistic interactions compared to single-compound toxicity. The data also highlighted species-dependent differing models of toxicity and underscored the need for an awareness of cocktail effects for better ecological risk assessment.