posted on 2024-03-13, 18:12authored byRongben Wu, Yan Yin Sin, Lin Cai, Youji Wang, Menghong Hu, Xiaoshou Liu, Wenzhe Xu, Kit Yue Kwan, David Gonçalves, Benny Kwok Kan Chan, Kai Zhang, Apple Pui-Yi Chui, Song Lin Chua, James Kar-Hei Fang, Kenneth Mei-Yee Leung
The investigation of pharmaceuticals as emerging contaminants
in
marine biota has been insufficient. In this study, we examined the
presence of 51 pharmaceuticals in edible oysters along the coasts
of the East and South China Seas. Only nine pharmaceuticals were detected.
The mean concentrations of all measured pharmaceuticals in oysters
per site ranged from 0.804 to 15.1 ng g–1 of dry
weight, with antihistamines being the most common. Brompheniramine
and promethazine were identified in biota samples for the first time.
Although no significant health risks to humans were identified through
consumption of oysters, 100–1000 times higher health risks
were observed for wildlife like water birds, seasnails, and starfishes.
Specifically, sea snails that primarily feed on oysters were found
to be at risk of exposure to ciprofloxacin, brompheniramine, and promethazine.
These high risks could be attributed to the monotonous diet habits
and relatively limited food sources of these organisms. Furthermore,
taking chirality into consideration, chlorpheniramine in the oysters
was enriched by the S-enantiomer, with a relative
potency 1.1–1.3 times higher when chlorpheniramine was considered
as a racemate. Overall, this study highlights the prevalence of antihistamines
in seafood and underscores the importance of studying enantioselectivities
of pharmaceuticals in health risk assessments.