EFFECTS OF THE ANTIDEPRESSANT AMITRIPTYLINE ON MARINE MEIOFAUNA With a novel methodology of examining activity

Abstract

Chemical pollution is an increasing problem threatening earth’s ecosystems around the world. One important group of organisms is meiofauna that is often overlooked despite their great ecological importance and diversity. One chemical of emerging concern for meiofauna is the antidepressant Amitriptyline (AMI) that has affinity for sediments and previous studies have observed its ability to negatively affect meiofauna diversity and abundance at environmentally relevant levels. This study aimed to examine the toxic effects of the compound in both long- and short-term exposure on meiofauna communities, assessing effects on community structure and activity by developing and applying the MTT assay. The findings showed that there was no significant toxic effect on the community structure or activity at the tested concentrations (3-30 000 ng/g dw). There was slight indication of possible negative effects on foraminifers and nematodes at the lowest concentration after 30 days. The MTT assay was deemed a successful possible new ecotoxicological tool, with an established experimental design and demonstrated repeatable stable results. Further research is needed to understand the exposure route of AMI in sediments and investigate effects at low concentrations. Additionally, the reproducibility of the MTT assay needs to be tested and verified, by applying it to other meiofauna communities.