Manifestation of Ecotoxicity in Parts per Trillion Contaminant Levels in Natural and Simulated Environmental Settings

摘要

Over the past decades a blend of different active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been detected in environmental settings at trace amounts across the globe. The continual release of APIs, primarily into the aquatic environment, has earned the APIs a status as ubiquitous and pseudo-persistent contaminants of emerging concern. The question is however, if parts per trillion levels of APIs may manifest measureable toxicities and risks to the environment? The acute risks are typically neglible low from these low exposures, but the chronic risks may potentially be overlooked. This paper demonstrates three case-studies where unexpected and long-term effects were observed for three different APIs. This illustrates that chronic toxicity may occur in some cases even at very low concentrations. To detect the manifestation of toxicity at parts per trillion levels more effectively will require more specific and tailored tests relevant to the individual drug and organism of concern. There are currently being developed novel methods and frameworks that will allow a prioritization of APIs of specific concern for further tailored testing, which are briefly presented herein.