Environmental fate of the anti-parasitic ivermectin in an aquatic micro-ecological system after a single oral administration

Abstract

IVM was quickly and widely distributed into the whole aquatic system in one day, and then was highly accumulated in organisms resulting in long-term residues. IVM was exchanged multiple times between the different media, which caused continuous fluctuations in the concentration of IVM in the water and sediment. It was worth noting that there was a second peak value of IVM in the fish and invertebrates after 30 days. The environmental fate of the IVM in the aquatic micro-ecological system showed that the drug was transferred from the fish to aquatic plants in the first seven days, and then gathered in the water and sediment, finally accumulating in the invertebrates. Our results indicated that an effective aquatic micro-ecological system was successfully established, and it could be applied to the study the environmental fate of IVM, which will aid the scientific use of this anti-parasitic agent during aquaculture.