Is Current Environmental Risk Assessment Underestimating the Toxicity of Pharmaceutical Products?

Traditional environmental risk assessments often focus on the short-term exposure and direct effects of contaminants, potentially overlooking the long-term, cumulative, and multi-generational impacts that pharmaceuticals can have on ecosystems. Pharmaceuticals can persist in the environment at low concentrations, which may lead to subtle biological changes and adverse effects on non-target organisms. These overlooked factors mean that current risk assessments might be significantly underestimating the toxicity of pharmaceutical products. As such, there is growing concern that these frameworks fail to capture the full scope of ecological risks, underscoring the need for more comprehensive and sensitive testing methods. Expanding these assessments would help safeguard ecosystems by providing a more accurate picture of the potential harm these substances may cause over time.

Susana Barros, PhD

Susana Barros is currently a researcher at CIIMAR within the Endocrine Disruptors and Emerging Contaminants (EDEC) team. Her work primarily investigates the generational impacts of exposure to endocrine disruptors and emerging contaminants on non-target aquatic organisms. By employing a holistic approach, her research aims to improve the environmental risk assessment of these pollutants by expanding knowledge of how long-term exposure to these substances affects ecosystems, ultimately contributing to the development of more effective strategies for environmental protection and management.

In case of any questions, please contact CIIMAR’s Seminar team, Marta Monteiro, Miguel Semedo, & Paulo Oliveira, at seminars@ciimar.up.pt

External members of CIIMAR should send an email to slopes@ciimar.up.pt, requesting authorization to enter the Porto Cruise Terminal area

CIIMAR members can also access last seminars recordings through the LINK.