Umeå universitets logga

Pharmaceuticals are frequently found in aquatic environments and there is an increasing concern over their potential effects on ecosystems and their organisms. Little is still known on precisely how they might affect aquatic organisms, and whether there are environmental factors such as temperature or synergistic effects between compounds that will further influence their impact. In the present study, behavioral trials were conducted for wild-caught European perch (Perca fluviatilis) to see if activity and boldness traits were altered when exposed to a pharmaceutical mixture consisting of carbamazepine, citalopram, and metoprolol at high (17°C) and low (11°C) water temperatures. Individuals were exposed between eight and nine days via either dietary uptake (5 µg/g) or water respiration (1 µg/L) before shelter and scototaxis trials were performed. A decrease in boldness was observed in the water exposure treatment at low temperatures during the scototaxis trial, however this finding should be treated with caution as it may not be representative. No other changes in behavior were observed across all other treatments and trials, and there was an overall large variability in the assessed behavioral endpoints. These results suggest that there is a need to further the knowledge to better understand the underlying mechanisms of pharmaceutical exposure and their assessment in behavioral research.