Ten young researchers are working together on their doctoral theses to study the impact of pharmaceutical waste on ecosystems and human health, as well as potential solutions to mitigate this pollution. They are doing so within the framework of the international project Pharm-ERA, in collaboration with universities and research centres in eight European countries, including the CEAB CSIC, which recently hosted the project’s second follow-up meeting.
The high consumption of medicines, both in human and veterinary medicine, is leading to widespread pharmaceutical pollution in ecosystems. An international study carried out by University of York found traces of pharmaceutical compounds in 258 rivers—every river analysed—across over 100 countries on five continents. The main identified sources of this pollution are the use of animal manure containing drug residues as fertilizer on agricultural land, and the discharge of wastewater from treatment plants, which cannot completely remove the medicines that humans excrete through feces and urine.
This type of pollution disrupts biodiversity and the ecological functioning of affected natural environments. It also impacts plant, animal and human health. Studying these processes and finding ways to reduce their negative impacts is the mission of the Pharm-ERA doctoral students and the collaborating universities and research institutions located in eight European countries: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, and Malta.
The project’s goals are to measure pharmaceutical contamination in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, assess and predict ecological effects and One Health risks, and offer nature-based solutions to mitigate the problem. This is carried out through ten PhD theses in a variety of scientific disciplines, including ecotoxicology, chemistry, microbial ecology, molecular biology, and mathematical modelling. Each is supervised by researchers from the partner institutions, which also provide knowledge, infrastructure, and cutting-edge methodologies to support the investigation.
Pharm-ERA coordinators Stéphane Pesce and Chloé Bonnineau, researchers at INRAE, add that “another key goal of the project is to train young researchers, to form highly qualified scientists who can provide Europe with expertise on the multiple facets of this growing issue.”
To coordinate this intersectoral, interdisciplinary, and international research, regular follow-up meetings are held. The second in-person meeting of the entire Pharm-ERA team took place at the headquarters of the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) between March 31 and April 4. The team shared the progress made so far, received training and specific hands- on sessions, and planned the next steps for the coming months.
A key issue: antibiotic resistance
A major topic within the Pharm-ERA project is the investigation of how antibiotic resistance spreads through the environment. One of the PhD theses, co-supervised by CEAB-CSIC, focuses on a related issue: the link between plastic pollution and pharmaceutical contamination. It explores how plastic debris in rivers can retain traces of pharmaceutical compounds, especially antibiotics. It also investigates how microbial communities that colonize this debris may develop resistance due to constant exposure. These resistances can even be transferred between different bacterial species—many of them pathogenic—and travel down the river attached to plastic waste. When animals or humans come into contact with these bacteria, they may develop infections that no longer respond to traditional antibiotics.
The research, carried out in urban rivers in Catalonia, also aims to identify natural solutions to reduce the pharmaceutical residues that remain in treated wastewater before it is returned to the environment.
Project funding
Pharm-ERA is a programme co-funded by the European Union through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
The project includes 15 partner institutions
Coordinated by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), the project also involves the following organisations: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ),Universitat de Vic (UVIC), Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Institut de Diagnòstic Ambiental i Estudis de l’Aigua (IDAEA-CSIC), University of Gothenburg (UGOT), University of Thessaly (UTH), KREATiS, AEIFORIA, Fondation evertéa, Naturalea, Smallomics, AuqaBioTECH, Centre Ecotox and Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).
