Environmental Fate of a Herbicide: An Industrialist's Perspective

AbstractHuman pharmaceuticals are extensively studied and assessed before marketing approval. Since 2006, this also includes an assessment of environmental risks. In the European Union, this is based on the guideline on the environmental risk assessment of medicinal products for human use (EMEA/CHMP/SWP/4447/00 corr 2), which is currently under revision. For Germany, the German Environment Agency (UBA) is tasked with the evaluation of environmental risks of human pharmaceuticals. Applicants seeking approval of medicinal products need to submit fate and effect data, in case predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) exceed 10 ng/L in surface waters, or the substance is of specific concern through its mode of action or physico-chemical characteristics.Over the last decade, this regulatory work resulted in an internal agency database containing effect data on approximately 300 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). A considerable part of this data is currently not publicly available due to property rights held by the respective applicants. The database was evaluated to draw conclusions on how the current assessment approach may be improved.The evaluation of aquatic effect data shows considerable variation in ecotoxic effect concentrations, but supports the current use of 10 ng/L as PEC action limit. For endocrine-active substances and antibiotics, a clear sensitivity profile was observed, which allows a more targeted assessment in the future. The conclusions drawn from terrestrial effect data are less clear, as the database itself is biased because information is only available for substances with high sorption. Further adaptations of the terrestrial assessment strategy, including action triggers, appear necessary. Fate data show a high persistence of many APIs: approximately 43% of all APIs are classified as very persistent; 12% of these show DT50 values in a range where abiotic or biotic degradation is not expected.Overall, the evaluation has shown that improvements of the current guideline are possible.

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Ecotoxicological effects, environmental fate and risks of pharmaceutical and personal care products in the water environment: A review

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147819 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147819

Author(s):

Huan Wang ◽

Hao Xi ◽

Linling Xu ◽

Mingkang Jin ◽

Wenlu Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Fate ◽

Water Environment ◽

Personal Care Products ◽

Personal Care ◽

Ecotoxicological Effects

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Environmental fate of cigarette butts and their toxicity in aquatic organisms: A comprehensive systematic review

Environmental Research ◽

10.1016/j.envres.2021.110881 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 195 ◽

pp. 110881

Author(s):

Sina Dobaradaran ◽

Farshid Soleimani ◽

Razegheh Akhbarizadeh ◽

Torsten C. Schmidt ◽

Maryam Marzban ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Environmental Fate ◽

Aquatic Organisms ◽

Cigarette Butts

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Isolation and identification of a novel bacterium, Pseudomonas sp. ZyL-01, involved in the biodegradation of CL-20

AMB Express ◽

10.1186/s13568-020-01136-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zhiyong Liu ◽

Kai Dang ◽

Cunzhi Li ◽

Junhong Gao ◽

Hong Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Environmental Fate ◽

Draft Genome ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Functional Enrichment Analysis ◽

Community Diversity ◽

Functional Enrichment ◽

Metagenomic Sequencing ◽

Isolation And Identification ◽

Novel Bacterium

Abstract Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) is a compound with a polycyclic cage and an N-nitro group that has been shown to play an unfavorable role in environmental fate, biosafety, and physical health. The aim of this study was to isolate the microbial community and to identify a single microbial strain that can degrade CL-20 with desirable efficiency. Metagenomic sequencing methods were performed to investigate the dynamic changes in the composition of the community diversity. The most varied genus among the microbial community was Pseudomonas, which increased from 1.46% to 44.63% during the period of incubation (MC0–MC4). Furthermore, the new strain was isolated and identified from the activated sludge by bacterial morphological and 16s rRNA sequencing analyses. The CL-20 concentrations decreased by 75.21 μg/mL and 74.02 μg/mL in 48 h by MC4 and Pseudomonas sp. ZyL-01, respectively. Moreover, ZyL-01 could decompose 98% CL-20 of the real effluent in 14 day’s incubation with the glucose as carbon source. Finally, a draft genome sequence was obtained to predict possible degrading enzymes involved in the biodegradation of CL-20. Specifically, 330 genes that are involved in energy production and conversion were annotated by Gene Ontology functional enrichment analysis, and some of these candidates may encode enzymes that are responsible for CL-20 degradation. In summary, our studies indicate that microbes might be a valuable biological resource for the treatment of environmental contamination caused by CL-20 and that Pseudomonas sp. ZyL-01 might be a promising candidate for eradicating CL-20 to achieve a more biosafe environment and improve public health.

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Transfer of Cobalt Nanoparticles in a Simplified Food Web: From Algae to Zooplankton to Fish

Applied Nano ◽

10.3390/applnano2030014 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 184-205

Author(s):

Nanxuan Mei ◽

Jonas Hedberg ◽

Mikael T. Ekvall ◽

Egle Kelpsiene ◽

Lars-Anders Hansson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Web ◽

Crucian Carp ◽

Environmental Fate ◽

Anthropogenic Sources ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Fish Feeding ◽

Aquatic Food ◽

Significant Uptake ◽

Co Nanoparticles ◽

Crucian Carp Carassius Carassius

Cobalt (Co) nanoparticles (NPs) may be diffusely dispersed into natural ecosystems from various anthropogenic sources such as traffic settings and eventually end up in aquatic systems. As environmentally dispersed Co NPs may be transferred through an aquatic food web, this study investigated this transfer from algae (Scendesmus sp.) to zooplankton (Daphnia magna) to fish (Crucian carp, Carassius carassius). Effects of interactions between naturally excreted biomolecules from D. magna and Co NPs were investigated from an environmental fate perspective. ATR-FTIR measurements showed the adsorption of both algae constituents and excreted biomolecules onto the Co NPs. Less than 5% of the Co NPs formed heteroagglomerates with algae, partly an effect of both agglomeration and settling of the Co NPs. The presence of excreted biomolecules in the solution did not affect the extent of heteroagglomeration. Despite the low extent of heteroagglomeration between Co NPs and algae, the Co NPs were transferred to the next trophic level (D. magna). The Co uptake in D. magna was 300 times larger than the control samples (without Co NP), which were not influenced by the addition of excreted biomolecules to the solution. Significant uptake of Co was observed in the intestine of the fish feeding on D. magna containing Co NPs. No bioaccumulation of Co was observed in the fish. Moreover, 10–20% of the transferred Co NP mass was dissolved after 24 h in the simulated gut solution of the zooplankton (pH 7), and 50–60% was dissolved in the simulated gut solution of the fish (pH 4). The results elucidate that Co NPs gain different properties upon trophic transfer in the food web. Risk assessments should hence be conducted on transformed and weathered NPs rather than on pristine particles.

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