TOMIXX

The release of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the environment is an issue of increasing importance which takes place for many years now. This happens through the Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants effluents’ discharges in which multi-component mixtures (parent compounds, metabolites and transformation products) of active pharmaceutical ingredients exist. The number of studies dealing with the effects of active pharmaceutical ingredients residues on aquatic organisms and risk assessment is still limited and scarce, particularly regarding long-term studies and only very few studies have observed the effects of mixtures.

The TOMIXX research project aimed at: (1) leveraging and integrating existing expertise currently distributed among partners, thus leading to an upgraded profile for them in the field of multi-component impact assessment and to new relevant scientific insights in the field of environmental science, (2) transfering specialized knowledge and promoting lasting professional cooperation between the participant organisations, governmental and private sector in the field of xenobiotics’ impact assessment and water resources quality protection, (3) promoting excellence in the research field of advanced water management and developing and/or enhance local expertise in the field of xenobiotics in water and wastewater, (4) evaluating the potential impacts of active pharmaceutical ingredients and their multi-component mixtures to humans and the ecosystem, which is a new field of scientific research attracting intense worldwide interest, (5) contributing to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive since the project will provide new insights for developing emission limit values and environmental quality standards with respect to active pharmaceutical ingredients currently absent from the priority lists circulated; and (6) enhancing the acceptance and practices related to wastewater reuse by determining the most relevant issues relating to reuse and adverse effects.