TY - JOUR A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Almeida, Ângela A1 - Calisto, V. A1 - Esteves, V. I. A1 - Soares, A. M. V. M. A1 - Figueira, E. A1 - Freitas, R. T1 - Ecotoxicity of the antihistaminic drug cetirizine to Ruditapes philippinarum clams N2 - Cetirizine (CTZ) is an antihistaminic drug present in the aquatic environment, with limited information on its toxicity to organisms inhabiting this system. This study intended to evaluate the effects of CTZ on oxidative stress and energy metabolism biomarkers in the edible clam Ruditapes philippinarum after a 28 days exposure to environmentally relevant CTZ concentrations (0.0, 0.3, 3.0, 6.0 and 12.0 mu g/L). The results obtained showed that CTZ was accumulated by clams reaching maximum concentrations (up to similar to 22 ng/g FW) at the highest CTZ exposure concentrations (6.0 and 12.0 mu g/L). The bioconcentration factor (average maximum values of similar to 5) decreased at 12.0 mu g/L reflecting a reduction in clams uptake or increase of excretion capacity at this condition. The present study revealed that, in general, clams decreased the metabolic potential after exposure to CTZ (decrease in electron transport system activity), a response that led to the maintenance of glycogen content in organisms exposed to CTZ in comparison to control values. Our findings also showed that, CTZ did not exert significant levels of oxidative injury to clams. However, comparing the control with the highest exposure concentrations (6.0 and 12.0 mu g/L) a significant increase of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide activity (similar to 53 and similar to 44%) was observed in clams exposed to CTZ. Moreover, a tendency to increase lipid peroxidation (similar to 14 and similar to 9%) and carbonyl groups on proteins (similar to 11 and similar to 3%) was observed in clams exposed to CTZ (6.0 and 12.0 mu g/L) compared to control condition. Overall the present study suggests that toxic impacts may be induced in R. philippinarum if exposed for longer periods or higher CTZ concentrations. KW - Antihistamines KW - Clams KW - Biomarkers PY - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.149 SN - 0048-9697 VL - 601 SP - 793 EP - 801 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-43311 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -