Elimination of the hormesis phenomenon by the use of synthetic sea water in a toxicity test towards Aliivibrio fischeri

Abstract Hormesis is an ecotoxicological phenomenon referred to as the biphasic dose-response effect. At a low concentration of toxic substances, a hormetic stimulating effect occurs, while an inhibitory effect occurs at higher concentrations. The phenomenon of hormesis may hinder the interpretation of toxicity test results and lower the actual toxicity of test samples. In this study, a hormesis phenomenon was observed and analysed during toxicity tests of wastewater from constructed wetlands containing two pharmaceutical substances, diclofenac (DCF) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), against the marine bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri. To eliminate the hormesis phenomenon, a change in the diluent (ISO 11348–3:2007) to synthetic sea water (ISO 10253:2006) is proposed. The hormesis phenomenon was observed only during the analysis of wastewater toxicity with the standard toxicity test (with the diluent). The use of synthetic sea water eliminated the hormetic effects because of the presence of additional components in the sea water, such as MgCl2, Na2SO4, CaCl2, KCl, NaHCO3, and H3BO3, which increased the sensitivity of A. fischeri to the pharmaceutical substances. The use of different media in toxicity tests may have significant effects on the toxicity classification of the tested compounds or wastewater. Additionally, the toxicity of tested pharmaceuticals towards A. fischeri was analysed. The IC50 values of DCF were 8.7 ± 1.1 mg L−1 (for diluent) and 13.9 ± 0.9 mg L−1 (for synthetic sea water) whereas those of SMX were 50.5 ± 2.3 and 55.3 ± 1.6 mg L−1, respectively.