Ecotoxicological study and environmental risk assessment of cocaine in marine ecosystems

• Grant number: 16/24033-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2018
• End date: January 12, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Camilo Dias Seabra Pereira
• Grantee: Mayana Karoline Fontes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/20187-4 - Histopathological, immunohistochemical, and endocrinological effects of cocaine in marine fish, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Urban sewage represents a major source of pollution in marine ecosystems, mainly due to increased consumption in coastal metropolitan regions and inefficient collection, treatment and disposal of domestic effluents. Among the main substances that can be found in the effluents are metals, hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals and personal care and illicit drugs, such as Cocaine, which is considered a huge public health problem, mainly in South America.The consumption and trafficking of cocaine in South America have become more prominent, particularly in Brazil.Sewage outfalls are main responsible for the discharge of emerging substances (such as cocaine) in the marine environment. Past studies of our group that identified the presence of cocaine in surface water at the Bay of Santos and biological effects in environmentally relevant concentrations. Thus, it comes the need for the environmental risk of illicit drugs in coastal environments through a tiered methodology which contemplates quantification in environmental matrices (surface water and bioaccumulation in marine organisms) and ecotoxicological study using as a model a marine organism sentinel (Perna perna mussels). This study is concerning the first study on illicit drug concentrations in a subtropical marine ecosystem and also the first assessment of possible adverse effects caused by illegal drugs to marine biota, in Brazil and in the world. We proposed the quantification of cocaine in environmental samples in the laboratory, as well as evaluating the acute and chronic toxicity of crack cocaine in Perna perna mussels and analysis of the metabolic pathways involved in biotransformation and excretion, as well as the sublethal effects arising from disturbances caused by cocaine or its metabolites.This proposal is innovative and the results will provide important information about the occurrence and effects of environmental contamination by illicti drugs,assisting in the development of tools for biomonitoring of these substances in the environment, and future implementation of environmental legislation.

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; DE CAMPOS, BRUNO GALVAO; CORTEZ, FERNANDO SANZI; PUSCEDDU, FABIO HERMES; MORENO, BEATRIZ BARBOSA; MARANHO, LUCIANE ALVES; LEBRE, DANIEL TEMPONI; GUIMARAES, LUCIANA LOPES; SEABRA PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS. Seasonal monitoring of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in a subtropical coastal zone (Santos Bay, Brazil). Marine Pollution Bulletin, v. 149, DEC 2019. (16/24033-3, 15/17329-0)

FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; DE CAMPOS, BRUNO GALVAO; CORTEZ, FERNANDO SANZI; PUSCEDDU, FABIO HERMES; NOBRE, CAIO RODRIGUES; MORENO, BEATRIZ BARBOSA; LEBRE, DANIEL TEMPONI; MARANHO, LUCIANE ALVES; SEABRA PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS. Mussels get higher: A study on the occurrence of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in seawater, sediment and mussels from a subtropical ecosystem (Santos Bay, Brazil). Science of The Total Environment, v. 757, FEB 25 2021. (15/17329-0, 16/24033-3)

FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; MARANHO, LUCIANE ALVES; PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS SEABRA. Review on the occurrence and biological effects of illicit drugs in aquatic ecosystems. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, v. 27, n. 25, MAY 2020. (15/17329-0, 16/24033-3)

NICOLAU DOS SANTOS, JULIANA VITORIA; MARTINS, ROBERTO; FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; DE CAMPOS, BRUNO GALVAO; SILVA, MARIANA BRUNI MARQUES DO PRADO E.; MAIA, FREDERICO; DE SOUZA ABESSA, DENIS MOLEDO; PERINA, FERNANDO CESAR. Can Encapsulation of the Biocide DCOIT Affect the Anti-Fouling Efficacy and Toxicity on Tropical Bivalves?. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL, v. 10, n. 23, DEC 2020. (18/25379-6, 19/19898-3, 17/10211-0, 16/24033-3)

ROSATI, LUIGI; CAPUTO, IVANA; LIONETTI, LILLA; FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS SEABRA; CAPALDO, ANNA. Side Effects of Human Drug Use: An Overview of the Consequences of Eels' Exposure to Cocaine. FISHES, v. 8, n. 3, p. 18-pg., 2023-03-01. (15/17329-0, 19/20187-4, 16/24033-3)

FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; DOURADO, PRISCILA LEOCADIO ROSA; CAMPOS, BRUNO GALVA DE; MARANHO, LUCIANE ALVES; ALMEIDA, EDUARDO ALVES DE; ABESSA, DENIS MOLEDO DE SOUZA; PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS SEABRA. Environmentally realistic concentrations of cocaine in seawater disturbed neuroendrocrine parameters and energy status in the marine mussel Perna perna. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY C-TOXICOLOGY & PHARMACOLOGY, v. 251, JAN 2022. (16/24033-3, 15/17329-0)

GARCIA ARANHA, MARIA LUIZA; GARCIA, MARIANA SIMOES; DE CARVALHO CAVALCANTE, DEBORAH NAVIT; GOMES SILVA, ANA PRISCILA; FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; GUSSO-CHOUERI, PALOMA KACHEL; CHOUERI, RODRIGO BRASIL; PEROBELLI, JULIANA ELAINE. Biochemical and histopathological responses in peripubertal male rats exposed to agrochemicals isolated or in combination: A multivariate data analysis study. Toxicology, v. 447, JAN 15 2021. (16/24033-3, 17/23063-9, 19/04588-9, 17/04970-5)

FONTES, MAYANA KAROLINE; ROSATI, LUIGI; DI LORENZO, MARIANA; SEABRA PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS; MARANHO, LUCIANE ALVES; LAFORGIA, VINCENZA; CAPALDO, ANNA. Aquatic Pollution and Risks to Biodiversity: The Example of Cocaine Effects on the Ovaries of Anguilla anguilla. ANIMALS, v. 12, n. 14, p. 15-pg., 2022-07-01. (15/17329-0, 16/24033-3, 19/20187-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FONTES, Mayana Karoline. Ecotoxicological study and environmental risk assessment of Cocaína in marine ecosystems. 2022. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. São Vicente São Vicente.