Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Presence of Cocaine in the Tissues of the European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, Exposed to Environmental Cocaine Concentrations

  • Published:
Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The presence of illicit drugs and their metabolites in surface waters has to be considered a new type of hazard, still unknown, for the aquatic ecosystem, due to the potent pharmacological activities of all the illicit drugs. Our research was therefore aimed at evaluating the impact of illicit drugs on the aquatic fauna, till now still undervalued. To this aim, we verified the ability of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a well-known biomonitor of environmental contamination, to bioaccumulate cocaine, one of the most abundant illicit drugs found in surface waters. Silver eels were exposed to a nominal cocaine concentration of 20 ng/l for 1 month; at the same time, control, carrier, and post-exposure recovery groups were made. Brains, gills, liver, kidney, muscle, gonads, spleen, digestive tract, and sections of dorsal skin were assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Cocaine was found in the tissues of the treated eels and, at low concentrations, in almost all tissues of post-exposure recovery eels. These results indicate that cocaine is able to accumulate into the eel tissues; its presence suggests potential risks for eels since cocaine could affect their physiology and contribute to their decline, and for humans consuming contaminated fish.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig.1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arinc, E., & Bozcaarmutlu, A. (2003). Catalyzation of cocaine N-demethylation by cytochromes P4502B, P4503A, and P4502D in fish liver. Journal of Biochemical and Molecular Toxicology, 17, 169–176.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belpaire, C., & Goemans, G. (2007). The European eel Anguilla anguilla, a rapporteur of the chemical status for the water framework directive? Vie et Milieu-Life and Environment, 57, 235–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettinetti, R., Galassi, S., Quadroni, S., Volta, P., Capoccioni, F., Ciccotti, E., et al. (2011). Use of Anguilla anguilla for biomonitoring persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in brackish and riverine waters in central and southern Italy. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 217, 321–331.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brecher, E. M., & Consumers Union of United States. (1972). Licit and illicit drugs; the Consumers Union report on narcotics, stimulants, depressants, inhalants, hallucinogens, and marijuana—including caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buet, A., Banas, D., Vollaire, Y., Coulet, E., & Roche, H. (2006). Biomarker responses in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) exposed to persistent organic pollutants. A field study in the Vaccarès lagoon (Camargue, France). Chemosphere, 65, 1846–1858.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caruso, G., Maricchiolo, G., Micale, V., Genovese, L., Caruso, R., & Denaro, M. G. (2008). Physiological responses to starvation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): effects on haematological, biochemical, non-specific immune parameters and skin structures. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, 36, 71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castiglioni, S., Zuccato, E., Crisci, E., Chiabrando, C., Fanelli, R., & Bagnati, R. (2006). Identification and measurement of illicit drugs and their metabolites in urban wastewater by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry, 78, 8421–8429.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daughton, C. G. (2011). Illicit drugs: contaminants in the environment and utility in forensic epidemiology. In D. M. Whitacre (Ed.), Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology (pp. 59–110). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Boer, J., Dao, Q. T., van Leeuwen, S. P. J., Kotterman, M. J. J., & Schobben, J. H. M. (2010). Thirty year monitoring of PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and tetrabromodiphenylether in eel from The Netherlands. Environmental Pollution, 158, 1228–1236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine, Y. A. (1994). L’argenture de l’anguille: métamorphose, anticipation, adaption. Bulletin Francais de la Péche et de la Pisciculture, 335, 171–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guler, Y., & Ford, A. T. (2010). Anti-depressants make amphipods see the light. Aquatic Toxicology, 99, 397–404.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heberer, T. (2002). Occurrence, fate, and removal of pharmaceuticals residues in the aquatic environment: a review of recent research data. Toxicology Letters, 131, 5–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, P., Hamrin, S., & Okla, L. (1991). Factors determining the uptake of persistant pollutants in an eel population (Anguilla anguilla). Environmental Pollution, 69, 39–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Levisky, J. A., Bowerman, D. L., Jenkins, W. W., & Karch, S. B. (2000). Drug deposition in adipose tissue and skin: evidence for an alternative source of positive sweat patch tests. Forensic Science International, 110, 35–46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, E. K., & Peters, T. J. (1984). Ammonium acetate: a general purpose buffer for clinical applications of high-performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Chromatography, 316, 397–406.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macchia, T., & Gentili, S. (2006). La diagnosi laboratoristica: aspetti tecnici. In Cocaina: manuale di aggiornamento tecnico scientifico (pp. 217–244). Roma: Presidenza del consiglio dei Ministri.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mari, F., Politi, L., Biggeri, A., Accetta, G., Trignano, C., Padua, D., et al. (2009). Cocaine and heroin in waste water plants: a 1-year study in the city of Florence, Italy. Forensic Science International, 189, 88–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCleave, J. D. (2003). Spawning areas of the Atlantic eels. In K. Aida, K. Tsukamoto, & K. Yamauchi (Eds.), Eel biology (pp. 141–156). Tokyo: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClung, C., & Hirsh, J. (1998). Stereotypic behavioral responses to free-base cocaine and the development of behavioral sensitization in Drosophila. Current Biology, 8, 109–112.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nayak, P. K., Misra, A. L., & Mulé, S. J. (1976). Physiological disposition and biotransformation of (3H) cocaine in acutely and chronically treated rats. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 196, 556–569.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nestler, E. J. (1992). Molecular mechanisms of drug addiction. Journal of Neuroscience, 12, 2439–2450.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nestler, E. J., & Malenka, R. C. (2004). The addicted brain. Scientific American, 290(3), 78–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, T., & Prouzet, P. (2008). Capture-based aquaculture of the wild European eel (Anguilla anguilla). In A. Lovatelli & P. F. Holthus (Eds.), Capture based aquaculture. Global overview (pp. 141–168). Rome: FAO. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira Ribeiro, C. A., Vollaire, Y., Sanchez-Chardi, A., & Roche, H. (2005). Bioaccumulation and the effects of organochlorine pesticides, PAH and heavy metals in the eel (Anguilla anguilla) at the Camargue Nature Reserve, France. Aquatic Toxicology, 74, 53–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poklis, A., Maginn, D., & Barr, J. L. (1987). Tissue disposition of cocaine in man: a report of five fatal poisonings. Forensic Science International, 33, 83–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Postigo, C., de Alda, M. J. L., & Barcelò, D. (2010). Drugs of abuse and their metabolites in the Ebro river basin: occurrence in sewage and surface water, sewage treatment plants removal efficiency, and collective drug usage estimation. Environment International, 36, 75–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rehm, J., Taylor, B., & Room, R. (2006). Global burden of disease from alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco. Drugs and Alcohol Review, 25, 503–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, M. M., Furlong, E. T., Kolpin, D. W., Werner, S. L., Schoenfuss, H. L., Barber, L. B., et al. (2010). Antidepressant pharmaceuticals in two U.S. effluent-impacted streams: occurrence and fate in water and sediment, and selective uptake in fish neural tissue. Environmental Science & Technology, 44, 1918–1925.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, M. M., Painter, M. M., Bartell, S. E., Logue, A., Furlong, E. T., Werner, S. L., et al. (2011). Selective uptake and biological consequences of environmentally relevant antidepressant pharmaceutical exposures on male fathead minnows. Aquatic Toxicology, 104, 38–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sébert, M. E., Weltzien, F. A., Moisan, C., Pasqualini, C., & Dufour, S. (2008). Dopaminergic systems in the European eel: characterization, brain distribution, and potential role in migration and reproduction. Hydrobiologia, 602, 27–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tagliaro, F., Antonioli, C., De Battisti, Z., Ghielmi, S., & Marigo, M. (1994). Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of cocaine in plasma and human hair with direct fluorimetric detection. Journal of Chromatography, 674, 207–215.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Ginneken, V., Palstra, A., Leonards, P., Nieveen, M., van den Berg, H., Flik, G., et al. (2009). PCBs and the energy cost of migration in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.). Aquatic Toxicology, 92, 213–220.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Waarde, G., Van Den Thillart, G., & Kesbeke, F. (1983). Anaerobic energy metabolism of the European eel Anguilla anguilla. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 149, 469–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal, B., Pasqualini, C., Le Belle, N., Holland, M. C. H., Sbaihi, M., Vernier, P., et al. (2004). Dopamine inhibits luteinizing hormone synthesis and release in the juvenile European eel: a neuroendocrine lock for the onset of puberty. Biology of Reproduction, 71, 1491–1500.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X.-L., Luo, X.-J., Liu, J., Luo, Y., Chen, S.-J., & Mai, B.-X. (2011). Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorinated pesticides in birds from a contaminated region in South China: association with trophic level, tissue distribution and risk assessment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 18, 556–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuccato, E., & Castiglioni, S. (2009). Illicit drugs in the environment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 367, 3965–3978.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zuccato, E., Chiabrando, C., Castiglioni, S., Calamari, D., Bagnati, R., Schiarea, S., et al. (2005). Cocaine in surface waters: a new evidence-based tool to monitor community drug abuse. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 4, 14–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuccato, E., Castiglioni, S., Bagnati, R., Chiabrando, C., Grassi, P., & Fanelli, R. (2008). Illicit drugs, a novel group of environmental contaminants. Water Research, 42, 961–968.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to dedicate this paper to the memory of a dear friend and famous endocrinologist, Prof. Tullio Criscuolo, for his loving and constant help in their work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Section of Evolutive and Comparative Biology, University Federico II, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80134, Naples, Italy

    Anna Capaldo, Flaminia Gay, Massimo Maddaloni, Salvatore Valiante, Maria De Falco & Vincenza Laforgia

  2. Lagoon Ecology and Aquaculture Laboratory, OPL srl. Via G. Leopardi 9, 58015, Orbetello, GR, Italy

    Mauro Lenzi

Authors
  1. Anna Capaldo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Flaminia Gay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Massimo Maddaloni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Salvatore Valiante
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Maria De Falco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Mauro Lenzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Vincenza Laforgia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Capaldo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Capaldo, A., Gay, F., Maddaloni, M. et al. Presence of Cocaine in the Tissues of the European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, Exposed to Environmental Cocaine Concentrations. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 2137–2143 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-1010-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-1010-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation