The Impact of Paracetamol on Selected Biomarkers of the Mollusc Species Corbicula fluminea

The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is an invasive bivalve that has recently spread in Europe and currently represents a large portion of the aquatic biomass in specific areas. Because of the impacts that the species may have in invaded ecosystems, increased knowledge on the physiologic features of the species life-cycle under different environmental scenarios (e.g., contamination events) is critical to understand the dynamics of the invasion and resulting ecosystem imbalance. The presence of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment has recently received great attention since high levels of contamination have been found, not only in sewage treatment plant effluents, but also in open waters. The present article reports toxicological biochemical effects of paracetamol to Corbicula fluminea following short- and long-term exposures. Oxidative stress parameters were specially focused namely catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), and glutathione reductase (GRed). The effect of tested substances on lipid peroxidation was also investigated. Paracetamol did not induce alterations on CAT activity, caused a significant decrease of GSTs activity following short- and long-term exposure (LOEC values of 532.78 mg L-1 and 30.98 g L-1, respectively), and was responsible for a significant and dose-dependent decrease of GRed activity in short- and long-term exposures. These results indicate that exposure to paracetamol can provoke significant alterations on the cellular redox status of C. fluminea. 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 29: 74-83, 2014.