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J Soils Sediments (2010) 10:16111622 DOI 10.1007/s11368-010-0294-3
SEDIMENTS, SEC 1 SEDIMENT QUALITY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT RESEARCH ARTICLE
Bioaccumulation of ivermectin from natural and artificial sediments in the benthic organism Lumbriculus variegatus
Tineke Slootweg & Michel Alvinerie & Philipp Egeler & Daniel Gilberg &
Jussi V. K. Kukkonen & Jrg Oehlmann & Carsten Prasse & Arto J. Sormunen &
Markus Liebig
Received: 14 June 2010 /Accepted: 24 August 2010 /Published online: 7 September 2010 # Springer-Verlag 2010
AbstractPurpose Although ivermectin is a widely used lipophilic parasiticide, data on its potential bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates are scarce. In this study, bioaccumulation patterns of radiolabeled 3H-ivermectin from sediments into tissues of the sediment-dwelling worm Lumbriculus variegatus were investigated and assessed.
Materials and methods Two independent studies are described. In the first study, bioaccumulation kinetics of ivermectin in L. variegatus were investigated by following uptake, elimination, and biotransformation of the compound in worms exposed in artificial sediment. In
the second study, possible effects of sediment characteristics on bioavailability of ivermectin were evaluated by comparing accumulation in worms exposed in three different natural sediments and one artificial sediment (organic carbon content 2% to 21%).
Results and discussion During 28 days of exposure, ivermectin accumulated in worms exposed in all sediments with calculated bioaccumulation factors ranging from 0.2 to11.0. Bioaccumulation factors correlated with total increase in biomass of worms during the exposure period and with organic carbon content of the sediments. Calculated biota sediment accumulation factors ranged from 2.1 to 16.6, indicating that other variables, like quality of organic carbon and feeding behavior of the worms, may have influenced the bioavailability of ivermectin. Biotransformation products of ivermectin were only found in water, but not in sediment and worms.
Conclusions Results show that ivermectin has potential to bioaccumulate in L. variegatus, which could indicate a risk for biomagnification of the compound in the food chain.
Keywords Bioaccumulation . Bioavailability. Ivermectin .
Lumbriculus variegatus . Sediment
1 Introduction
Ivermectin has a widespread use as a veterinary parasiticide. Its potential risk for non-target organisms is a cause for concern, and an environmental risk assessment of the compound has been performed recently (Liebig et al. 2010). Because ivermectin dissipates rapidly from the water phase into sediments, due to its affinity to organic matter, a risk...