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Blanco G, Gómez-Ramírez P, Espín S, Sánchez-Virosta P, Frías Ó, García-Fernández AJ. Domestic Waste and Wastewaters as Potential Sources of Pharmaceuticals in Nestling White Storks (Ciconia ciconia). Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:antibiotics12030520. [PMID: 36978387 PMCID: PMC10044248 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12030520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Information on the exposure of wild birds to pharmaceuticals from wastewater and urban refuse is scarce despite the enormous amount of drugs consumed and discarded by human populations. We tested for the presence of a battery of antibiotics, NSAIDs, and analgesics in the blood of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in the vicinity of urban waste dumps and contaminated rivers in Madrid, central Spain. We also carried out a literature review on the occurrence and concentration of the tested compounds in other wild bird species to further evaluate possible shared exposure routes with white storks. The presence of two pharmaceutical drugs (the analgesic acetaminophen and the antibiotic marbofloxacin) out of fourteen analysed in the blood of nestlings was confirmed in 15% of individuals (n = 20) and in 30% of the nests (n = 10). The apparently low occurrence and concentration (acetaminophen: 9.45 ng mL−1; marbofloxacin: 7.21 ng mL−1) in nestlings from different nests suggests the uptake through food acquired in rubbish dumps rather than through contaminated flowing water provided by parents to offspring. As with other synthetic materials, different administration forms (tablets, capsules, and gels) of acetaminophen discarded in household waste could be accidentally ingested when parent storks forage on rubbish to provide meat scraps to their nestlings. The presence of the fluoroquinolone marbofloxacin, exclusively used in veterinary medicine, suggests exposure via consumption of meat residues of treated animals for human consumption found in rubbish dumps, as documented previously at higher concentrations in vultures consuming entire carcasses of large livestock. Control measures and ecopharmacovigilance frameworks are needed to minimize the release of pharmaceutical compounds from the human population into the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Blanco
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence:
| | - Pilar Gómez-Ramírez
- Toxicology and Risk Assessment Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Arrixaca), University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Silvia Espín
- Toxicology and Risk Assessment Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Arrixaca), University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
- Area of Toxicology, Department of Socio-Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Pablo Sánchez-Virosta
- Area of Toxicology, Department of Socio-Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Óscar Frías
- Department of Physical, Chemical and Natural Systems, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de Utrera, km. 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Antonio J. García-Fernández
- Toxicology and Risk Assessment Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Arrixaca), University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
- Area of Toxicology, Department of Socio-Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
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Almaraz P, Martínez F, Morales-Reyes Z, Sánchez-Zapata JA, Blanco G. Long-term demographic dynamics of a keystone scavenger disrupted by human-induced shifts in food availability. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2579. [PMID: 35279905 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Scavenging is a key ecological process controlling energy flow in ecosystems and providing valuable ecosystem services worldwide. As long-lived species, the demographic dynamics of vultures can be disrupted by spatiotemporal fluctuations in food availability, with dramatic impacts on their population viability and the ecosystem services provided. In Europe, the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2001 prompted a restrictive sanitary regulation banning the presence of livestock carcasses in the wild on a continental scale. In long-lived vertebrate species, the buffering hypothesis predicts that the demographic traits with the largest contribution to population growth rate should be less temporally variable. The BSE outbreak provides a unique opportunity to test for the impact of demographic buffering in a keystone scavenger suffering abrupt but transient food shortages. We studied the 42-year dynamics (1979-2020) of one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). We fitted an inverse Bayesian state-space model with density-dependent demographic rates to the time series of stage-structured abundances to investigate shifts in vital rates and population dynamics before, during, and after the implementation of a restrictive sanitary regulation. Prior to the BSE outbreak the dynamics was mainly driven by adult survival: 83% of temporal variance in abundance was explained by variability in this rate. Moreover, during this period the regulation of population size operated through density-dependent fecundity and subadult survival. However, after the onset of the European ban, a 1-month delay in average laying date, a drop in fecundity, and a reduction in the number of fledglings induced a transient increase in the impact of fledgling and subadult recruitment on dynamics. Although adult survival rate remained constantly high, as predicted by the buffering hypothesis, its relative impact on the temporal variance in abundance dropped to 71% during the sanitary regulation and to 54% after the ban was lifted. A significant increase in the relative impact of environmental stochasticity on dynamics was modeled after the BSE outbreak. These results provide empirical evidence on how abrupt environmental deterioration may induce dramatic demographic and dynamic changes in the populations of keystone scavengers, with far-reaching impacts on ecosystem functioning worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Almaraz
- Department of Ecology and Coastal Management, Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía, ICMAN-CSIC, Campus Río San Pedro, Puerto Real, Spain
| | - Félix Martínez
- Escuela Internacional de Doctorado, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), Móstoles, Spain
| | - Zebensui Morales-Reyes
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Elche, Spain
| | - José A Sánchez-Zapata
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Elche, Spain
| | - Guillermo Blanco
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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Large-Scale Quantification and Correlates of Ungulate Carrion Production in the Anthropocene. Ecosystems 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-022-00763-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Moreno-Opo R, Carapeto R, Casimiro R, Rubio C, Muñoz B, Moreno I, Aymerich M. The veterinary use of diclofenac and vulture conservation in Spain: Updated evidence and socio-ecological implications. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 796:148851. [PMID: 34271379 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in livestock farming, with lethal effects on vultures when reaching high concentrations in the carcasses they feed on. There are evidences showing that it caused the decline of >95% of vultures of the Gyps genus in Southern Asia until its ban in 2006. In March 2013 two veterinary drugs containing diclofenac were authorized in Spain. The scientific and conservationist communities alerted on the foreseeable risks to European vulture populations based on previous experiences. Several risk assessments modelled the expected impact on vultures, and media campaigns were launched to ban the veterinary use of diclofenac. Here, we evaluate the situation of Spanish vultures after seven years (2013-2019) since the marketing authorisation of the veterinary use of diclofenac was granted. The present assessment takes into consideration the awareness measures adopted to avoid an inappropriate use of the drug, the results of the monitoring programs performed both for vultures and livestock in the wild and from toxicological tests, as well as the review of the published models on the expected mortality of vultures. The measures adopted seem to have been adequate and have avoided impacts at vulture population level despite the finding of one cinereous vulture lethally intoxicated by diclofenac in 2020. In view of the results, we discuss the different situations from the veterinary use of this drug between Southern Asia and Spain. Finally, surveillance priorities and future prospects are proposed to prevent risks from possible changes in the current circumstances, regarding the use of diclofenac and other NSAIDs potentially harmful like flunixin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubén Moreno-Opo
- General Deputy Directorate on Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity, Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Pza. San Juan de la Cruz 10, E-28071 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Ricardo Carapeto
- Spanish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, Ministry of Public Health, c/ Campezo 1, 8, E-28022 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ramiro Casimiro
- Spanish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, Ministry of Public Health, c/ Campezo 1, 8, E-28022 Madrid, Spain
| | - Consuelo Rubio
- Spanish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, Ministry of Public Health, c/ Campezo 1, 8, E-28022 Madrid, Spain
| | - Beatriz Muñoz
- General Deputy Directorate on Animal Health, Hygiene and Traceability, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, c/ Almagro 33, E-28010 Madrid, Spain
| | - Inés Moreno
- General Deputy Directorate on Animal Health, Hygiene and Traceability, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, c/ Almagro 33, E-28010 Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Aymerich
- General Deputy Directorate on Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity, Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Pza. San Juan de la Cruz 10, E-28071 Madrid, Spain
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