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Toxics
Special Issues
Pharmaceutical Pollutants: Environmental Fate, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Solutions
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Pharmaceutical Pollutants: Environmental Fate, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Solutions

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2025) | Viewed by 2640

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Guixiang Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment and Resources, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan, China
Interests: soil

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The scope of this Special Issue will include contributions of original research papers and high-quality review articles to help address problems related to pharmaceutical pollution. Studies significantly improving our understanding of environmental behaviors (e.g., adsorption/desorption, degradation, migration, and transformation) of pharmaceutical pollutants in water, sediment, and soil will be given primary consideration. Authors should affirm that their studies are conducted under environmentally relevant conditions, such as temperature, pH, and chemical doses, for actual applications. Additionally, we also invite contributions that focus on the removal technologies and pollution control strategies of pharmaceutical pollutants in water, sediment, and soil. Cost-effective, high-efficiency, and environmentally friendly materials and processes are particularly welcome.

This Special Issue will not consider articles dealing with the extraction and determination methods of pharmaceutical pollutants in any environmental matrix. Additionally, descriptive or repetitive studies with limited novelty will not be considered.

Dr. Guixiang Zhang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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
  • antibiotic resistance genes
  • soil
  • water
  • sediments
  • environmental fate
  • risk assessment
  • sustainable solutions

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1486 KB  
Article
Aquatic Toxicity of Antibiotics Ciprofloxacin and Sulfamethoxazole: Significant Impact on Early Life Stages of Crustaceans, a Marine Diatom, and a Freshwater Plant
by Edoardo Pietropoli, Rebecca Zgheib, Marco Selmo, Giacomo Melotto, Rosa Maria Lopparelli, Lorena Lucatello, Marianna Pauletto and Marco De Liguoro
Toxics 2025, 13(11), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13110979 - 14 Nov 2025
Viewed by 703
Abstract
The occurrence of antibiotic residues in the environment is of concern not only because of their contribution to the spread of bacterial resistance, but also due to their possible toxicity to non-target organisms. In this study, the aquatic environmental toxicity of ciprofloxacin (CIP) [...] Read more.
The occurrence of antibiotic residues in the environment is of concern not only because of their contribution to the spread of bacterial resistance, but also due to their possible toxicity to non-target organisms. In this study, the aquatic environmental toxicity of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was assessed in the following model organisms: Daphnia magna and Artemia salina (embryonic and immobilisation test with a 10-d follow-up), Phaeodactylum tricornutum (algal growth inhibition test), and Spirodela polyrhiza (duckweed growth inhibition test). Results showed that among the two saltwater organisms, A. salina was insensitive to both antibiotics, whilst P. tricornutum responded only to SMX with an EC50 of 2.7 mg L−1. In freshwater species, D. magna embryos were more sensitive than juveniles to SMX (EC50 53.8 and 439.2 mg L−1, respectively), whereas the opposite trend was observed for CIP (EC50 95.9 and 15 mg L−1, respectively). S. polyrhiza confirmed the remarkable sensitivity of aquatic plants to fluoroquinolones, with EC50 values between 0.28 and 0.34 mg L−1 depending on the endpoint considered. Notably, this species was also more sensitive to SMX than expected, with EC50 values between 1.5 and 2.5 mg L−1, which are an order of magnitude lower than those typically obtained with Lemna spp. exposed to sulphonamides. Considering the high environmental input of these antibiotics from both human and veterinary treatments, adverse effects on aquatic plants cannot be excluded, potentially leading to ecosystem-level consequences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceutical Pollutants: Environmental Fate, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Solutions)
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14 pages, 1084 KB  
Article
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) GILL Primary Cell Culture Oxidative Stress and Cellular Damage Response Challenged with Oxytetracycline Antibiotic
by Luis Vargas-Chacoff, José Ramírez-Mora, Daniela Nualart, Francisco Dann and José Luis P. Muñoz
Toxics 2025, 13(11), 914; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13110914 - 24 Oct 2025
Viewed by 531
Abstract
Salmon farming has been affected by various bacterial diseases, and the use of antibiotics (such as oxytetracycline “OTC”) to control these diseases has become necessary and thus routine. This study aimed to determine how the gill cells are affected by OTC in Salmo [...] Read more.
Salmon farming has been affected by various bacterial diseases, and the use of antibiotics (such as oxytetracycline “OTC”) to control these diseases has become necessary and thus routine. This study aimed to determine how the gill cells are affected by OTC in Salmo salar. Gill tissue culture was performed in periods of 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h, assessing the enzymatic activity and mRNA expression of catalase (CAT), cytochrome p450, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (Gr), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), HSP70 and HSP90, in response to two doses of OTC: 0.25 (low), and 3 µL/mL (high). The results indicated that the enzymatic activity of SOD and CAT showed low enzyme activity at both doses. At the same time, GR presented varied response patterns depending on the time and dose of OTC used, contrary to GPx, which just increased the enzyme activity at early times. Although the mRNA expression presented the most precise pattern of expression, they were not in line with the enzymatic activities. The HSP70 and HSP90 mRNA expression response (as a cellular damage marker) increased mRNA levels at low and high doses, respectively, but at different times, alluding to a differentiated response given by the size of the chaperone. These results suggest an oxidative response of the gills to OTC exposure and constitute significant information on the amount of OTC used in aquaculture and on methods for improving the optimal dose of drugs, fish health, and, consequently, environmental health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceutical Pollutants: Environmental Fate, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Solutions)
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14 pages, 3772 KB  
Article
Oxidative Stress Response of Liver Cell Culture in Atlantic Salmon Challenged Under Two Antibiotics: Oxytetracycline and Florfenicol
by Luis Vargas-Chacoff, Francisco Dann, Ricardo Oyarzún-Salazar, Daniela Nualart and José Luis P. Muñoz
Toxics 2025, 13(5), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13050361 - 30 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 957
Abstract
Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing sector in animal production, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5% since 1970. In Chile, the industry is largely driven by salmonid farming, with Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon) accounting for over 65% of national production. This species [...] Read more.
Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing sector in animal production, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5% since 1970. In Chile, the industry is largely driven by salmonid farming, with Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon) accounting for over 65% of national production. This species has shown the most significant growth within the sector. This growth is achieved by having high-density farming, which results in high levels of stress due to overcrowding and the appearance of pathogens such as the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus, Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD), Caligus sea lice (Caligus rogercresseyi), and Piscirickettsiosis (SRS) caused by Piscirickettsia salmonis, among others. This study evaluated the toxicity of the two most commonly used antibiotics in the salmon industry—oxytetracycline and florfenicol—at four concentrations each, using primary liver cell cultures of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Oxidative stress was assessed through enzymatic activity and gene expression of oxidative markers, including cytochrome P450, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Samples were analyzed at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 48 h post-exposure. These findings reveal time- and dose-dependent oxidative responses in salmon liver cells to OTC and FLO, providing critical insights into the sublethal cellular effects of antibiotics commonly used in aquaculture, which indicates the presence of a high amount of free radicals in the liver cells, indicating toxicity of both antibiotics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceutical Pollutants: Environmental Fate, Risk Assessment and Sustainable Solutions)
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