Cited by 8Environmental Toxicology and EcotoxicologyToxic Organic Pollutants ImpactPharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts

Interactions between phenanthrene exposure and historical chemical stress: Implications for fitness and ecological resilience of the sentinel species Daphnia magna

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Gigl, Florian, Abdullahi, Muhammad, Barnard, Marianne, Hollert, Henner, Orsini, Luisa·2024·Science of The Total Environment

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) arise from incomplete combustion of oil, coal, and gasoline, with lipophilic properties facilitating their widespread distribution and persistence. Due to their biochemical attributes, PAHs can accumulate in animal tissues, potentially causing mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Since the industrial revolution, PAH concentrations in the environment have risen, with lakes showing levels from 0.159 to 33,090 μg/kg sediment. Despite acute toxicity studies showing adverse effects on freshwater organisms, the long-term impacts and synergistic interactions with other pollutants remain largely unexplored. This study investigates the impact of phenanthrene (PHE), a prominent PAH found in aquatic environments, on Daphnia magna, a species of significant ecological importance in freshwater ecosystems globally, being both a sentinel species for chemical pollution and a keystone organism in freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Leveraging the dormancy of D. magna, which spans decades or even centuries, we exposed strains with diverse histories of chemical contaminant exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of PHE. Initially, acute exposure experiments were conducted in accordance with OECD guidelines across 16 Daphnia strains, revealing substantial variation in acute toxic responses, with strains naïve to chemical pollutants showing the lowest toxicity. Utilizing the median effect concentration EC10 derived from acute exposures, we assessed the impacts of chronic PHE exposure on life history traits and ecological endpoints of the 16 strains. To elucidate how historical exposure to other environmental stressors may modulate the toxicity of PHE, temporal populations of D. magna resurrected from a lake with a well-documented century-spanning history of environmental impact were utilized. Our findings demonstrate that PHE exposure induces developmental failure, delays sexual maturation, and reduces adult size in Daphnia. Populations of Daphnia historically exposed to chemical stress exhibited significantly greater fitness impacts compared to naïve populations. This study provides crucial insights into the augmented effects of PAHs interacting with other environmental stressors.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174963

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Authors
Gigl, F., Abdullahi, M., Barnard, M., Hollert, H., & Orsini, L.
Affiliations
  • Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
  • University of Birmingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Gigl, Florian
Venue
Science of The Total Environment
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-11
Volume
949
Pages
174963
ISSN
0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4401009607
Cited by
8
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2
FWCI
1.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Fraunhofer-Publica (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) (submittedVersion)
  • Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • European Union's Research and Innovation
  • Horizon Europe
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
Keywords
phenanthrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Daphnia magna, sentinel species, chronic toxicity, acute toxicity, strain differences, development failure, sexual maturation, adult body size, life-history traits, ecosystem resilience, freshwater pollution, sediment contamination
MeSH terms
Sentinel Species, Daphnia magna, Animals, Daphnia, Environmental Monitoring, Phenanthrenes, Stress, Physiological, Water Pollutants, Chemical

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