Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Pharmaceutical Contaminants As Stressors On Rocky Intertidal And Estuarine Organisms: A Case Study Of Fluoxetine, Joseph Richard Peters

Dissertations and Theses

Contaminants such as pharmaceuticals are of increasing concern due to their ubiquitous use and persistence in surface waters worldwide. Limited attention has been paid to the effects of pharmaceuticals on marine life, despite widespread detection of these contaminants in the marine environment. Of the existing studies, the majority assess the negative effects of pharmaceuticals over an exposure period of 30 days or less and focus on cellular and subcellular biomarkers. Longer studies are required to determine if chronic contaminant exposure poses risks to marine life at environmentally relevant concentrations. Also scarce in the literature is examination of whole organism effects …