Remains of 16 drugs with bream, bogas and sábalos

Scientists at the Center for Environmental Research, a laboratory dependent on CONICET and UNLP, have detected the presence of the remains of sixteen drugs in the tissues of three species of fish intended for human consumption that live in the Uruguay River: bream, tarpon and bogas. The discovery has just been published in the journal Enviromental Pollution.

The most frequently encountered compounds were: carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant particularly used against epilepsy and bipolar disorder; and atenolol, indicated for treating high blood pressure and controlling heart risk.

"It was a surprise, because our initial hypothesis was that we would mainly find traces of more commonly prescribed drugs, such as the anti-inflammatory drugs diclofenac and ibuprofen.On the contrary, in fact, they almost did not appear", said researcher Pedro Carriquiriborde, one of the authors of the article.

A positive aspect of the results is that the most common drugs – some of which were present in almost 100% of the samples studied – appeared at low concentrations, while, conversely, those found at a higher density ( among them a diuretic, badgesic and a psychiatric drug) were found in less than half of the fish.

In other words, "fortunately, we did not find the most risky combination, which had to contain large amounts in most of the samples, in fact, in none of the cases did we see the daily dose levels. acceptable (ADI) exceeded according to international recommendations ", adds the expert.

The badyzes were carried out by Macarena Rojo, trainee at CONICET, who spent three months at the Catalan Institute for Water Research in Barcelona, ​​Spain, thanks to a grant from the Uruguay River Administrative Commission (CARU) . "There, I learned the methodology of sample processing and badysis of the results, called Extraction of liquid under pressure, more sophisticated than what could be done here because we do not have any". such equipment, "he said.

The research also aimed to answer other questions, especially if the drugs triggered the process of biomagnification, namely the successive increase of the accumulation of substances in the food chain. In this sense, three species have been chosen with very different eating habits and thus occupy different links in this relationship: although sábalo is detritivore, it feeds exclusively on decaying organic matter, the boga is omnivorous and dorado eats primarily small fish.