Antidepressants are among the most prescribed pharmaceuticals throughout the world. Their presence has already been detected in several aquatic ecosystems worldwide and their effects on non-target organisms justify the growing concern of both the public and regulatory authorities. These emerging pollutants do not occur as isolated compounds but rather as multi-component mixtures, which may lead to increased adverse effects compared to individual compounds. Freshwater and marine algae seem particularly sensitive to pharmaceuticals, including antidepressants. Studies assessing the toxicity of antidepressant mixture to algae focused mainly on binary mixtures of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In the present experiment, the freshwater algae Raphidocelis subcapitata (formerly known as Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) and the marine diatom Skeletonema marinoi were exposed to equitoxic mixtures of 9 antidepressants (fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, sertraline, duloxetine, venlafaxine, clomipramine, amitriptyline, and citalopram) at different concentrations. The growth inhibition was measured. Results showed that the toxicity of this mixture was higher than the effects of each individual component, highlighting simple additivity or synergistic effects, whereas tested concentrations were below the 10% inhibition concentration (IC₁₀) of each compound. Moreover, the QSAR analysis highlighted that antidepressants would act through narcosis (non-specific mode of action) towards the two species of algae. However, more specific effects can be observed by differentiating compounds with a primary/secondary amine from those with a tertiary amine. These mixture effects on algal species have to be assessed, especially since any impacts on phytoplankton could ultimately impact higher trophic levels (less food, secondary poisoning).

抗抑郁药是全世界处方最多的药物之一。它们的存在已经在全球几个水生生态系统中被发现，并且它们对非目标生物的影响证明了公共和管理当局日益关注的合理性。这些新兴污染物不是以孤立的化合物形式出现，而是以多组分混合物的形式出现，与单独的化合物相比，这可能导致增加的不利影响。淡水和海藻似乎对包括抗抑郁药在内的药物特别敏感。评估抗抑郁药混合物对藻类毒性的研究主要集中在选择性5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂的二元混合物上。在本实验中，淡水藻Raphidocelis subcapitata（以前称为门Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata）和海洋硅藻骨条marinoi暴露于的在不同浓度9种抗抑郁药（氟伏沙明，氟西汀，舍曲林，度洛西汀，文拉法辛，氯米帕明，阿米替林，西酞普兰和）等毒性的混合物。测量生长抑制。结果表明，该混合物的毒性高于每种单独组分的作用，突出了简单的加和或协同作用，而测试浓度低于10％抑制浓度（IC ₁₀）的每个化合物。此外，QSAR分析强调，抗抑郁药将通过麻醉作用（非特异性作用方式）作用于这两种藻类。但是，通过将具有伯/仲胺的化合物与具有叔胺的化合物区分开，可以观察到更具体的效果。必须评估这些混合物对藻类的影响，特别是因为对浮游植物的任何影响最终都可能影响较高的营养水平（减少食物，继发中毒）。