Erin Ussery, Mark McMaster, Vince Palace, Joanne Parrott, Nicholas C Blandford, Richard Frank, Karen Kidd, Oana Birceanu, Joanna Wilson, Mehran Alaee, Jessie Cunningham, Abby Wynia, Thomas Clark, Sheena Campbell, Lauren Timlick, Sonya Michaleski, Stephanie Marshall, Kristin Nielsen
Due to its widespread use for the treatment of Type-2 diabetes, metformin is routinely detected in surface waters globally. Laboratory studies have shown that environmentally relevant concentrations of metformin can adversely affect the health of adult fish, with effects observed more frequently in males. However, the potential risk to wild fish populations has yet to be fully elucidated and remains a topic of debate. To explore whether environmentally relevant metformin exposure poses a risk to wild fish populations, the present study exposed wild fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to 5 or 50 μg/L metformin via 2 m diameter in-lake mesocosms deployed in a natural boreal lake in Northern Ontario at the International Institute for Sustainable Development - Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA)...
April 20, 2024: Science of the Total Environment