Uptake, accumulation and impact of antiretroviral and antiviral pharmaceutical compounds in lettuce

While the contamination of agroecosystems with pharmaceutical compounds has been reported, the fate of these compounds, particularly uptake into plants remains unclear. This lack of environmental fate data is evident for a critical class of pharmaceuticals, the antivirals and antiretrovirals (ARVDs). Thus, this study evaluated the root uptake of the antiretroviral compounds nevirapine, lamivudine and efavirenz, and the antiviral compound oseltamivir in lettuce. The lettuce was hydroponically grown in a nutrient solution containing the four ARVD pharmaceutical mixture in the 1–100 μg L−1 concentration range. The measured bioaccumulation showed that efavirenz and lamivudine accumulated to the highest and lowest degree, at concentrations of 3463 ng g−1 and 691 ng g−1 respectively. The translocation factor between the root and leaf for nevirapine was greater than 1. The highest concentration of the pharmaceutical mixture had a physiological impact on the lettuce. Potential toxicity was evidenced by a statistically significant 34% (p = 0.04) mean reduction in root and leaf biomass in the 100 μg L−1 ARVD mix exposed lettuce, compared with the controls. This study advances knowledge of the fate of ARVDs in agroecosystems, in particular, plant root – ARVD interaction and the resulting potentially toxic effects on plants.