Chemical toxicity in the environment may be the consequence of exposure of living organisms to multiple substances, with distinct putative effects. Among this mulytiplicity of chemicals that occur in the wild, pharmaceutical drugs and antifoulers are prone to exert toxic effects on non-target organisms. To characterize the toxicity elicited by a compound of this specific class, the present study used standard and biochemical-based tools to quantify the toxic response of the antifouler and antidandruff zinc pyrithione in Daphnia magna and Daphnia longispina. The analised parameters were immobility, reproduction, behavioral alteration (swimming patterns), anti-oxidant defense (catalase activity), metabolism (GSTs activities), and neurotoxicity (ChE activity) after exposure to sublethal concentrations of this drug. Exposure to zinc pyrithione has been shown to have neurotoxic and oxidative effects, with changes in swimming behavior. There were no changes in reproductive traits of exposed individuals, from both species. The obtained data demonstrate that ecologically relevant levels of zinc pyrithione can deleteriously alter critical parameters in two distinct freshwater microcrustacean species, although with distinct toxicity patterns and outcomes.

环境中的化学毒性可能是活生物体接触多种物质的结果，具有明显的推定作用。在野外出现的这种化学多态性中，药物和防污剂易于对非目标生物产生毒性作用。为了表征这种特定类别化合物引起的毒性，本研究使用了基于标准和基于生物化学的工具来定量测定防臭剂和去头屑巯氧吡啶锌对大水蚤和长水蚤的毒性反应。。暴露于亚致死浓度的药物后，分析参数为固定性，繁殖，行为改变（游泳方式），抗氧化防御（过氧化氢酶活性），新陈代谢（GSTs活性）和神经毒性（ChE活性）。巯氧吡啶锌的暴露已显示具有神经毒性和氧化作用，并且会改变游泳行为。两种物种的暴露个体的生殖特性都没有变化。获得的数据表明，尽管具有不同的毒性模式和结果，但生态上相关水平的巯氧吡啶锌可以有害地改变两个不同的淡水微甲壳类动物的关键参数。