A new ERA for Environmental Risk Assessment: Chirality as a tool towards environmentally safe pharmaceuticals

Project Information

ERA-ARE

Grant agreement ID: 101039270

DOI

10.3030/101039270

EC signature date 10 October 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 29 February 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 499 950,00

EU contribution

€ 1 499 950,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ERA-ARE (A new ERA for Environmental Risk Assessment: Chirality as a tool towards environmentally safe pharmaceuticals)

Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Pharmaceuticals, their metabolites and transformation products (TPs), are stable, poorly biodegraded and recalcitrant, and thus responsible for the emerging contamination of aquatic environments by them. Existing novel mitigation measures are insufficient and often too risky due to the possible generation of TPs. As such, a disruptive prevention strategy is urgently needed. The ERC-funded ERA-ARE project will build a robust base for the realisation of an internationally leading research group promoting environmental safety. The ERA|ARE innovative method relies on fundamental understanding of enantioselectivity of environmental processes that can impact the fate/behaviour of pharmaceutical contaminants. The project will exploit the chirality of selected antibiotics as a piloting tool, to reduce antibiotic resistance and create innovative guidelines for developing safer drugs.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods for determination of several classes of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and illicit drugs;

Sample preparation procedures to extract these compounds from environmental matrices;

Semi-preparative chiral chromatography method to isolate pure enantiomers for further biodegradation/ ecotoxicological assays;

A spatiotemporal monitoring campaign was developed in the Douro River from Pinhão to the mouth of the river;

Enrichment of fluoroquinolone-degrading bacteria.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

(i) Development of new analytical and semi-preparative methods to support biodegradation/ ecotoxicological assays;
(ii) New research infrastructure at U.Porto;
(iii) Training and knowledge dissemination;
(iv) International collaborative networks.