Pharmaceutical contamination, as a research topic, concerns the presence and behavior of active pharmaceutical ingredients, metabolites, and excipients in environmental or biological matrices where they are unintended. It encompasses sources such as human and veterinary excretion, improper disposal, manufacturing discharges, and hospital effluents, and addresses fate processes including sorption, transformation, and bioaccumulation. Studies focus on occurrence at trace to ultra-trace concentrations, mixture effects, and modes of action that may induce ecotoxicological or sublethal impacts, including endocrine disruption and antimicrobial resistance selection. The topic also covers analytical detection methods, environmental risk assessment frameworks, and mitigation strategies like advanced wastewater treatment and source-control policies.
Microplastics are an increasing global concern, with growing evidence of their presence in water systems. RMIT University researchers have developed a water treatment material that rapidly removes micro- and nanoplastics ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 22, 2026
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45
Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of coral reefs, according to a study led by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and published in Nature Communications. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 17, 2026
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8
Sertraline is one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world. Global sertraline sales are expected to keep growing, projected to expand from an estimated US$1.94 billion in 2025 to approximately US$3.13 billion ...
Ecology
Jun 26, 2026
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11
Water pollution caused by pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other organic contaminants is an increasing global issue, especially in regions with limited wastewater treatment infrastructure. A new doctoral thesis from Umea University ...
Biotechnology
Jun 8, 2026
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14
Antibiotics continue to drive resistance in bacteria, even after they are broken down in wastewater treatment plants and discharged into rivers and seas, new research published on World Oceans Day has shown for the first ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 8, 2026
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76
Depression, anxiety and sleep disorders are among the conditions often treated with antidepressant drugs. Yet, up to 90% of these drugs pass through the body into wastewater. They're also difficult to remove during water ...
Environment
Jun 3, 2026
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12
A new research review led by Griffith University suggests using human urine as a fertilizer could significantly boost sustainable agriculture—but key health risks and knowledge gaps must be addressed before it could be widely ...
Agriculture
May 26, 2026
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37
Juvenile Chinook salmon in the Lower Fraser River estuary are feeding and growing in a slurry of contaminants from pharmaceuticals, personal care products to industrial chemicals, according to a new Simon Fraser University ...
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
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16
A team of scientists from Berlin analyzed water and sediment samples from six water bodies in Berlin and the adjacent federal states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as the inflow and outflow of a ...
Ecology
May 4, 2026
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19
Every time you go for a swim, some of your sunscreen gets left behind. An estimated 25% of applied sunscreen washes off during recreational water activities, releasing some 5,000 tons annually in reef areas alone, according ...
Ecology
Apr 28, 2026
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14
