19 July, 2024
The AquaticPollutants research project PHARMASEA has now produced preliminary results of the first large scale field investigation. The activities and results were presented at the EurOCEANS 2023. The project also performed different outreach activities, targeting many stakeholder groups. read all about it in this article!
PHARMASEA − Presence, behavior and risk assessment of pharmaceuticals in marine ecosystems- aims to
After 33 months of Project activities, PHARMASEA’s preliminary results of the first large scale field investigation allow to characterize many pharmaceuticals in seawater and biota from different trophic levels. The field investigation was covering the North Sea, part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Western Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea. Laboratory studies were performed on marine species exposed to various antidepressants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cardiovascular compounds, and lipid lowering agents.
The obtained results revealed the onset of sub-lethal alterations. The integration of preliminary results through a quantitative “Weight-of-Evidence” approach enabled to start to synthesize the wide datasets of complex and heterogeneous results in specific hazard indices before their integration into an overall risk index.
Presenting PHARMASEA at the EurOCEAN 2023. @PHARMASEA
The project’s activities and results have been disseminated to a wide range of audiences, including scientists, public authorities, private sector organizations, pharma industries, NGOs, citizens, teachers and students. In October 2023, PharmaSea was invited to the EurOCEAN 2023 conference co-organised by the European Marine Board in Vigo (Spain). The PHARMASEA Project Manager Dr. Marica Mezzelani presented the project activities and participated at the panel discussion “Addressing pharmaceutical pollution from inland to sea‶.
Outreach activities performed with young students from primary schools enabled the project to disseminate and promote sustainable behaviours including the correct disposal of domestic medicines. The active involvement of stakeholders from pharmaceutical industries will help to assess environmental sustainability of pharmaceuticals, stimulating a green transition towards the development of new drugs that also consider effects on non-target aquatic species. In addition, cooperation with wastewater treatment plant engineers could promote a discussion on the need of more appropriate technologies for the removal of pharmaceuticals.
The presence of relevant national authorities in the PHARMASEA stakeholder panel allowed the project to discuss their results at normative levels, toward the development of reliable normative guidelines and appropriate strategies for environmental risk assessment. In this respect, in November 2023, an Advisory Board/Stakeholder meeting was organized to promote discussion and gather precious feedback to finalize the achievement of project objectives. Finally, PHARMASEA was also part of episode 1 of the AquaticPollutants Podcast organized by AquaticPollutats TransNet!
Promoting discussions and gathering feedback at the Advisory Board/Stakeholder meeting. @PHARMASEA