Occurrence and Fate of Selected Pharmaceuticals and Disinfection Agents in the Aquatic Environment. (II)
Subproject:
Consolidating Life-Cycle Analyses by Investigations on Interactions with Water Constituents
(PHARMA II)

The results so far obtained in the project underline the necessity of investigations on the influence of water constituents on the life-cycle of selected pharmaceutical compounds. This is of particular importance if the chemical structure of the substances render interactions highly probable. As a consequence, significant differences during elimination processes between standardized and real systems have to be expected for these substances. Because this tremendously affects the conclusions drawn so far on their life-cycle, the following questions based on the results obtained so far will be addressed to: 1) the relevance of ion-pair binding of quaternary ammonia compounds to organic anions from different groups (surfactants, plastisizers, colorants, and humic substances) and 2) the relevance of exchange processes of toxic rare earth metal species in diagnostic agents, especially gadolinium, by either other metal ions or by humic substances during sewage and drinking water treatment.