Genotoxicity of the residues of anticancer drugs: A hazard for aquatic environment

Abstract

Anticancer drugs are a group of pharmaceuticals that are used in cancer treatment. These drugs have high pharmacological potency and are designed to kill tumour cells or to prevent and disrupt tumour cell division by interfering with genetic material or processes that govern their replication. However, anticancer drugs do not affect only cancer cells but also dividing normal cells. After human consumption, anticancer drug residues are released into the environment as parent compounds and their metabolites, where they might affect non-target environmental organisms even at the level of sub- to few ng/L in particular during chronic exposure. Recent ecotoxicological studies that included also detection of genotoxic effects of selected anticancer drugs with different mechanisms of chemotherapeutic action demonstrated high differences in the sensitivity of different aquatic organisms in regard to lethal and reproductive effects. However, in all organisms, the concentrations at which mortality and reproductive effects were observed were higher than the concentrations that were detected or expected in the environmental samples. On the contrary, the genotoxic effects of certain anticancer drugs were in crustacean and fish detected at concentrations that may occur in the aquatic environment. Thus, potential ecological risks for invertebrates and vertebrates cannot be ruled out. The results clearly demonstrated that residues of certain anticancer drugs are hazardous for aquatic environment; thus, further research and activities are needed that will enable reliable environmental risk assessment and introduction of measures to reduce their release into the environment.