Brighton researcher raises awareness of pharmaceutical pollution in the sea

Dr Koagouw is a Research Fellow in the School of Applied Sciences specialising in the impact of pharmaceuticals on marine organisms, and her paper in Marine Pollution Bulletin adds to growing evidence worldwide of pharmaceutical products joining a long list of pollutants that can contaminate seafood.

Dr Koagouw's study marks the first record of paracetamol in Indonesian seawater. A 2020 paper she wrote with University of Brighton colleague Dr Corina Ciocan and Dr George Olivier found even a low concentration of paracetamol exposure could cause serious damage to mussels, including inflammation and adverse effects to their reproduction. Previous researchers have also found damage to shellfish such as clams and oysters linked to paracetamol exposure, alongside damage to the livers, larvae and embryos of fish.

Jakarta Bay pollution courtesy South China Morning Post

Dr Wulan Koagouw

The level of paracetamol detected in the waters of Jakarta Bay is a cause for concern, as the actual contamination is likely to be considerably higher. This is because the study only measured the 5% of an ingested amount that is actually excreted by marine life as paracetamol, as opposed to a range of other compounds (metabolites) which could potentially transform back into paracetamol.

While the amount of paracetamol may be too small on its own to have a direct effect on humans, more research is needed to determine the drug's impact on marine life – and whether or not seafood caught in paracetamol-contaminated water is safe for human consumption.

Further investigation is also needed to identify sources of the contamination. There are three likely routes: human excretions containing the drug entering the water via sewage; waste from hospitals or pharmaceutical producers in the area; or expired drugs being tossed into the sea.

Dr Koagouw said: “When the level of a substance reaches a level that can interact with biological systems of living things besides humans, that is when the substance has the potential to produce harmful effects. Paracetamol has also been detected in the past decade around the Brazilian coastline, the north Portuguese coast, the western Mediterranean, and Aegean Sea.

“We are not aware of any human overdosing of paracetamol due to eating seafood - but one route of potential harm is the accumulation of contaminants in marine animals that enter our food chain. So further investigation is recommended.

“This study will also open the doors to campaigning to better sort and handle unused or expired drugs, and strengthening community and industrial waste management systems and monitoring. It will also strengthen research in the field of environmental toxicology of emerging contaminants to provide a scientific basis for making policies or regulations.”