Seminar: Environmental and Analytical chemistry, Ecotoxicology | May 9 | 2.30 p.m.-3.30 p.m. | Room 1.3.20 (FCUL C1)
Anna Białk-Bielińska, Professor, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Risk assessment of new emerging pollutants in the environment: the problem of pharmaceuticals
Host: Ana Paula Paiva
Taking into consideration the fact that humans and other organisms living in the environment are continuously exposed to many different chemicals, it is always of utmost importance to answer the question whether they pose any risk to them? Therefore, during this seminar, the problem of the new emerging pollutants (EPs) in the environment will be presented, as more than 700 chemical substances have been identified as EPs in the European aquatic environment. This class of environmental contaminants is composed of synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals that are currently not included in routine monitoring programmes and their environmental fate and ecotoxicological effects are usually not well understood yet. However, special attention will be paid to the residues of pharmaceuticals, as these chemicals, after the application in human or veterinary medicine, are released via different routes and finally reach ecosystems. Considering, the fact that they have been designed to be biologically active at a very low doses, there are serious concerns that their presence in the environment might negatively affect living organisms leaving there as well as humans health. Hence, the problem of their presence in the environment in terms of the current state of knowledge, scientific achievements and future challenges in their risk assessment process will be discussed.