Evaluation of the Ecotoxicity of Sublethal Levels of Caffeine and Propranolol on Reproduction, Development, and Behavior in the Freshwater Amphipod Hyalella azteca

• Grant number: 24/22067-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Environmental Sanitation
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Zaiat
• Grantee: Allan Pretti Ogura
• Supervisor: Chaumot
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Institut National De Recherche Pour L'Agriculture, L'Alimentation Et L'Environnement, Lyon, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/14789-1 - Ecotoxicity and bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals: evaluation of treatment in anaerobic bioreactors, BP.PD

Abstract

Contaminants of emerging concern, including active substances used in medicine and as lifestyle consumables such as caffeine and propranolol, pose significant environmental challenges due to their ecotoxicity and persistence in freshwater, primarily resulting from widespread human consumption and limited removal by wastewater treatment (WWT). These bioactive compounds can cause sublethal effects, such as behavioral and reproductive changes even at low concentrations. This research focuses on caffeine, a widely used indicator of wastewater contamination, and propranolol, a beta-blocker with known ecological risks, to explore their impacts on aquatic organisms. Specifically, the study aims to evaluate the ecotoxicological effects of caffeine and propranolol on the survival, growth, reproduction, and locomotor behavior of the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca, including transgenerational effects in offspring (effect of parental exposure). The amphipod model is selected because stream amphipod species are widely used as sentinel species in environmental monitoring in both European and American ecosystems (respectively Gammaridae and Hyallelidae). Acute ecotoxicity assays will estimate the effect concentrations for organism survival, while chronic experiments and two-generation exposure will investigate sublethal effects, focusing on endpoints such as reproduction and development. Behavioral changes in H. azteca exposed to increasing concentrations of caffeine and propranolol will be assessed in controlled environments using an innovative video-tracking device, the ToxMate, recently deployed in France for the on-site monitoring of WWT plant effluents. This study focused on a model amphipod species that can contribute to advances in methodologies for WWT evaluation through ecotoxicological approaches in collaboration with laboratories in Brazil (Laboratory of Biological Processes, at the University of São Paulo) and France (Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, at French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment) with complementary expertise in environmental bioassessment.