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Toxics
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Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment: Monitoring, Impacts and Ecological Risk
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Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment: Monitoring, Impacts and Ecological Risk

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Emerging Contaminants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2025) | Viewed by 3947

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Maria João Rocha

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar and Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: pharmaceuticals; endocrine disruptors; PAHs; pesticides; PCBs; industrial pollutants; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pharmaceuticals are essential for human and animal health. However, after their use, these compounds are generally rapidly excreted, mainly in faeces and urine, as water-soluble metabolites. These often reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where, in addition to not being eradicated, some become active compounds with harmful effects on aquatic species and ecosystems. Moreover, unused pharmaceuticals can cause a severe risk if they reach the environment due to improper disposal.

Ultimately, parental compounds or their metabolites may affect humans and domestic animals via drinking water and the ingestion of its byproducts in meat, animal feed, and dairy plant crops, among others. This aspect may cause undesirable health issues for humans and animals.

In this Special Issue, we aim to collate studies referring to the environmental presence and impact of pharmaceuticals, such as hormones, antibiotics, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories and analgesics, beta-blockers, and anticancer medications, ideally offering a global panorama of the contamination of aquatic abiotic and biotic matrices and its impacts on both animal and human health.

Dr. Maria João Rocha
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pharmaceuticals
  • aquatic environment
  • endocrine disruptors
  • risk assessment
  • infertility
  • cancer

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 2397 KiB  
Article
Risk Assessment of Micropollutants for Human and Environmental Health: Alignment with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive in Southeastern Spain
by Lissette Díaz-Gamboa, Agustín Lahora, Sofía Martínez-López, Luis Miguel Ayuso-García and Isabel Martínez-Alcalá
Toxics 2025, 13(4), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13040275 - 4 Apr 2025
Viewed by 453
Abstract
The reuse of reclaimed water is essential for sustainable water management in arid regions. However, despite advancements in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), certain micropollutants may persist. To address these challenges, the recently enacted European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) has established strict standards [...] Read more.
The reuse of reclaimed water is essential for sustainable water management in arid regions. However, despite advancements in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), certain micropollutants may persist. To address these challenges, the recently enacted European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) has established strict standards focused on monitoring twelve specific indicator compounds. In line with this, the present study aims to evaluate the concentrations and potential risks of these twelve UWWTD-designated compounds across various water sources, including surface water, groundwater, and effluents from a WWTP in the southeast of Spain. Although none of the evaluated water sources are, as expected, intended for human consumption, risks were assessed based on worst-case scenarios that could amplify their impact. The study assessed potential risks to human health across different age groups and ecosystems, focusing on key organisms such as fish, daphnia, and algae, using empirical assessment approaches. The risk assessment identified a low risk for most compounds regarding human health, except for citalopram (HRQ = 19.116) and irbesartan (HRQ = 1.104), which showed high human risk quotients (HQR > 1) in babies, particularly in reclaimed water. In terms of ecotoxicological risk, irbesartan presented the highest ecological risk quotient (ERQ = 3.500) in fish, followed by clarithromycin, with algae (ERQ = 1.500) being the most vulnerable organism. Furthermore, compounds like citalopram, venlafaxine, and benzotriazole exhibited moderate ecological risks (ERQ between 0.1 and 1) in the reclaimed water, and their risk was reduced in surface water and groundwater. Finally, this study discussed the potential impacts of elevated concentrations of these emerging compounds, emphasizing the need for rigorous wastewater monitoring to protect human health and ecosystem integrity. It also revealed notable differences in risk assessment outcomes when comparing two distinct evaluation approaches, further highlighting the complexities of accurately assessing these risks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment: Monitoring, Impacts and Ecological Risk)
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17 pages, 2043 KiB  
Article
Progestin Pollution in Surface Waters of a Major Southwestern European Estuary: The Douro River Estuary (Iberian Peninsula)
by Frederico Silva, Rodrigo F. Alves, Eduardo Rocha and Maria João Rocha
Toxics 2025, 13(3), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13030225 - 19 Mar 2025
Viewed by 310
Abstract
The concentrations and spreading of eight synthetic and two natural progestins (PGs) were investigated in surface waters from ten sites at the Douro River Estuary. Samples were filtrated and subjected to solid-phase extraction (SPE) to isolate and concentrate the target PGs. The extracts [...] Read more.
The concentrations and spreading of eight synthetic and two natural progestins (PGs) were investigated in surface waters from ten sites at the Douro River Estuary. Samples were filtrated and subjected to solid-phase extraction (SPE) to isolate and concentrate the target PGs. The extracts were cleaned by silica cartridges and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The finding of biologically relevant amounts of gonanes (22.3 ± 2.7 ng/L), progesterone derivatives (12.2 ± 0.5 ng/L), drospirenone (4.1 ± 0.8 ng/L), and natural PGs (9.4 ± 0.9 ng/L) support the possibility of these compounds acting as endocrine disruptors. Despite the absence of significant differences amongst sampling sites and seasons, the principal component analysis (PCA) and the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) approaches reveal that spring and summer have different patterns of PG distribution compared to autumn and winter. The assessment of risk coefficients (RQs) and the potential concentrations of synthetic progestins in fish blood sustains that all tested compounds pose a significant risk to local biota (RQs > 1). Additionally, three progestins—norethindrone, norethindrone acetate, and medroxyprogesterone acetate—should reach human-equivalent therapeutic levels in fish plasma. Overall, the current data show PGs’ presence and potential impacts in one of the most important estuaries of the Iberian Peninsula. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment: Monitoring, Impacts and Ecological Risk)
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Review

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29 pages, 1627 KiB  
Review
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in the Aquatic Environment and Bivalves: The State of the Art
by Pedro Pires, André M. P. T. Pereira, Angelina Pena and Liliana J. G. Silva
Toxics 2024, 12(6), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12060415 - 5 Jun 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2368
Abstract
In recent years, contaminants of emerging concern have been reported in several environmental matrices due to advances in analytical methodologies. These anthropogenic micropollutants are detected at residual levels, representing an ecotoxicological threat to aquatic ecosystems. In particular, the pharmacotherapeutic group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories [...] Read more.
In recent years, contaminants of emerging concern have been reported in several environmental matrices due to advances in analytical methodologies. These anthropogenic micropollutants are detected at residual levels, representing an ecotoxicological threat to aquatic ecosystems. In particular, the pharmacotherapeutic group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) is one of the most prescribed and used, as well as one of the most frequently detected in the aquatic environment. Bivalves have several benefits as a foodstuff, and also as an environment bioindicator species. Therefore, they are regarded as an ideal tool to assess this issue from both ecotoxicological and food safety perspectives. Thus, the control of these residues in bivalves is extremely important to safeguard environmental health, also ensuring food safety and public health. This paper aims to review NSAIDs in bivalves, observing their consumption, physicochemical characteristics, and mechanisms of action; their environmental occurrence in the aquatic environment and aquatic biota; and their effects on the ecosystem and the existent legal framework. A review of the analytical methodologies for the determination of NSAIDs in bivalves is also presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment: Monitoring, Impacts and Ecological Risk)
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