Comfortably numb: Ecotoxicity of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen on Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals are continuously released to aquatic environments posing a rising threat to marine ecosystems. Yet, monitoring routines and ecotoxicity data on biota worldwide for these substances are lacking. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the most prescribed and found pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments. The toxicity effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of ibuprofen on primary productivity, oxidative stress and lipid metabolism of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum were assessed. Diatom cultures were exposed to 0, 0.8, 3, 40, 100 and 300 μg L−1 ibuprofen concentrations, usually found in the vicinity of wastewater treatment plants and coastal environments. Higher concentrations (100 and 300 μg L−1) had a negative impact in P. triconutum growth, inhibiting the chloroplastic energy transduction in the electron transport chain resulting in lower energy reaching the PS I (r2 = −0.55, p