{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T01:37:06Z","timestamp":1792201026215,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,6]],"date-time":"2021-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other viral infections are among the emerging contaminants considered for ecological risk assessment. These compounds have been reported to be widely distributed in water bodies and other aquatic environments, while data concerning the risk they may pose to unintended non-target species in a different ecosystem (environment) is scanty. In South Africa and other developing countries, lamivudine is one of the common antiretrovirals applied. Despite this, little is known about its environmental impacts as an emerging contaminant. The present study employed a battery of ecotoxicity bioassays to assess the environmental threat lamivudine poses to aquatic fauna and flora. Daphnia magna (filter feeders), the Ames bacterial mutagenicity test, Lactuca sativa (lettuce) germination test, and the Allium cepa root tip assay were conducted, testing lamivudine at two concentrations (10 and 100 \u00b5g\/L), with environmental relevance. The Daphnia magna toxicity test revealed a statistically significant response (p &lt;&lt; 0.05) with a mortality rate of 85% on exposure to 100 \u00b5g\/L lamivudine in freshwater, which increased to 100% at 48-h exposure. At lower concentrations of 10 \u00b5g\/L lamivudine, 90% and 55% survival rates were observed at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. No potential mutagenic effects were observed from the Ames test at both concentrations of lamivudine. Allium cepa bioassays revealed a noticeable adverse impact on the root lengths on exposure to 100 \u00b5g\/L lamivudine. This impact was further investigated through microscopic examination, revealing some chromosomal aberration in the exposed Allium cepa root tips. The Lactuca sativa bioassay showed a slight adverse impact on both the germination rate of the seeds and their respective hypocotyl lengths compared to the control. Overall, this indicates that lamivudine poses an ecological health risk at different trophic levels, to both flora and fauna, at concentrations previously found in the environment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18168358","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,8]],"date-time":"2021-08-08T21:49:41Z","timestamp":1628459381000},"page":"8358","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Environmental Risk Characterization of an Antiretroviral (ARV) Lamivudine in Ecosystems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Elizabeth Oyinkansola","family":"Omotola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa"},{"name":"Department of Chemical Sciences, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode PMB 2118, Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1720-5593","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bettina","family":"Genthe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources and the Environment Division, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luyanda","family":"Ndlela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources and the Environment Division, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olatunde Stephen","family":"Olatunji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"660","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2018.02.105","article-title":"LC-MS\/MS determination of antiretroviral drugs in influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa","volume":"200","author":"Abafe","year":"2018","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"372","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2015.09.061","article-title":"Intersex and alterations in reproductive development of a cichlid, Tilapia guineensis, from a municipal domestic water supply lake (Eleyele) in Southwestern Nigeria","volume":"541","author":"Adeogun","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. 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