Stabled livestock reared in housed conditions are often subjected to intensive treatments with veterinary drug, which residues may be present in livestock meat ingested by scavengers, but nothing is known about their presence in eggs of wild birds and their potential detrimental effects on breeding success. We searched for residues of veterinary drugs and other toxicants in infertile and embryonated unhatched eggs of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) and red kites (Milvus milvus), two threatened avian scavengers. Quinolones (ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin) were found in most unhatched eggs of both scavenger species clearly associated with severe alterations in the development of embryo cartilage and bones that could preclude embryo movements and subsequently normal development, pre-hatch position and successful hatching. The detrimental effects on developing eggs of veterinary drugs from livestock operations may help to explain reduced breeding success of avian scavengers. Fluoroquinolones used in livestock farming and found in eggs of avian scavenger caused severe alterations in embryo cartilage and bone development.

The presence of triclosan, a widely-used antibacterial chemical, is currently unknown in higher trophic-level species such as marine mammals. Blood plasma collected from wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Charleston, SC (CHS) (n = 13) and Indian River Lagoon, FL (IRL) (n = 13) in 2005 was analyzed for triclosan. Plasma concentrations in CHS dolphins ranged from 0.12 to 0.27 ng/g wet weight (mean 0.18 ng/g), with 31% of the sampled individuals having detectable triclosan. The mean IRL dolphin plasma concentrations were 0.072 ng/g wet weight (range 0.025-0.11 ng/g); 23% of the samples having detectable triclosan. In the CHS area, triclosan effluent values from two WWTP were both 190 ng/L and primary influents were 2800 ng/L and 3400 ng/L. Triclosan values in CHS estuarine surface water samples averaged 7.5 ng/L (n = 18) ranging from 4.9 to 14 ng/L. This is the first study to report bioaccumulation of anthropogenic triclosan in a marine mammal highlighting the need for further monitoring and assessment. Triclosan in bottlenose dolphin plasma and their environment.

Photodegradation of four pharmaceuticals (i.e. carbamazepine, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and 17α-ethinylestradiol) in aqueous media was studied using a solar light simulator (Xe lamp irradiation) and sunlight experiments. These experiments were carried out in river and seawater and compared to distilled water. The latter was used to evaluate the direct photodegradation pathways. Irradiation time was up to 400 min and 24 days for the solar light simulator and sunlight assays, respectively. Pharmaceutical photodegradation followed a first-order kinetics and their half-lives calculated in every aqueous matrix. Moreover, the sensitizing effect of DOC was evaluated by comparison with the kinetics obtained in distilled waters. Ketoprofen was rapidly transformed via direct photolysis in all the waters under both sunlight (t ₁/₂ = 2.4 min) and simulated solar light simulator test (t ₁/₂ = 0.54 min). Under xenon lamp radiation, ibuprofen and 17α-ethinylestradiol were photodegraded at moderate rate with half-lives from 1 to 5 h. Finally, carbamazepine had the lowest photodegradation rate (t ₁/₂ = 8-39 h) attributable to indirect photodegradation. Indeed, its elimination was strongly dependent on the DOC concentration present in solution. Finally, several ketoprofen photoproducts were identified and plotted against solar light simulator irradiation time. Accordingly, the photodegradation pathway of ketoprofen was postulated.