Abstract

DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS PREPARED WITH OVER-THE-COUNTER AND UNDER PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES ALTERS GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF LINSEED (LINACEAE)

Vinicius Cavalcante Morais, Joshua Soeder, Ege Özcan, Victor Targino Gomes, Kaíque Yago Gervazio de Lima and Ulrich Vasconcelos*

ABSTRACT

Pharmaceutical active compounds (PACs) are regarded as emerging contaminants. The inappropriate disposal of PACs promotes significant environmental impacts and is a serious public health concern in Brazil and other countries. Ecotoxicity assay is an easy and low-cost strategy to verify the degree of toxicity of these substances to the soil biota. This work assessed the effect of nine PACs leachates of different concentrations on the germination and growth linseed seedlings in a hydroponic medium in a laboratory model. Results showed that less toxicity was achieved with the lower leachate concentration. Five compounds demonstrated a notable negative effect on the germination and growth of the seedlings. Linseed appeared to be a suitable option for ecotoxicity tests.

Keywords: Ecotoxicity, Emerging contaminants, Linum usitatissimum, Pharmaceutical active compounds.