In the last few decades, pharmaceuticals, credited with saving millions of lives, have emerged as a new class of environmental contaminant. These compounds can have both chronic and acute harmful effects on natural flora and fauna. The presence of pharmaceutical contaminants in ground waters, surface waters (lakes, rivers, and streams), sea water, wastewater treatment plants (influents and effluents), soils, and sludges has been well doccumented. A range of methods including oxidation, photolysis, UV-degradation, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and adsorption has been used for their remediation from aqueous systems. Many methods have been commercially limited by toxic sludge generation, incomplete removal, high capital and operating costs, and the need for skilled operating and maintenance personnel. Adsorption technologies are a low-cost alternative, easily used in developing countries where there is a dearth of advanced technologies, skilled personnel, and available capital, and adsorption appears to be the most broadly feasible pharmaceutical removal method. Adsorption remediation methods are easily integrated with wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Herein, we have reviewed the literature (1990-2018) illustrating the rising environmental pharmaceutical contamination concerns as well as remediation efforts emphasizing adsorption.

Pharmaceuticals of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Systems: Chemistry, Occurrence, Effects, and Removal Methods.

Inspired by the success of fluorinated corticosteroids in the 1950s and fluoroquinolones in the 1980s, fluorine-containing pharmaceuticals, which are also known as fluoro-pharmaceuticals, have been attracting attention for more than half of a century. Presently, about 20% of the commercial pharmaceuticals are fluoro-pharmaceuticals. In this mini-review, we analyze the prevalence of fluoro-pharmaceuticals in the market and categorize them into several groups based on the chemotype of the fluoro-functional groups, their therapeutic purpose, and the presence of heterocycles and/or chirality to highlight the structural motifs, patterns, and promising trends in fluorine-based drug design. Our database contains 340 fluoro-pharmaceuticals, from the first fluoro-pharmaceutical, Florinef, to the latest fluoro-pharmaceuticals registered in 2019 and drugs that have been withdrawn. The names and chemical structures of all the 340 fluorinated drugs discussed are provided in the Supporting Information.

Contribution of Organofluorine Compounds to Pharmaceuticals.

Current Contributions of Organofluorine Compounds to the Agrochemical Industry.

WHILE the introduction of statistical methods into the analysis of aeronautical experimental data, whether for quality control in production, for the interpretation of the results of structural and aerodynamic laboratory experiments, or for airline operation, has been brought about only in recent years, it may by now be fair to assert that their advantages and even their indispensability are no longer in dispute. Hitherto, investigations on these lines have usually involved, explicitly or implicitly, only the ‘normal curve of error’ and allied considerations; owing, it may be thought, to the controllability of the various manufacturing or laboratory techniques, but also perhaps to the scarcity of data hitherto available. It may well be, however, that with the accumulation of information arising out of investigations planned with particular reference to the statistical analysis of their results the whole range of the apparatus for statistical analysis, usually confined to such fields as those of biology or economics, will be called into full play.

The Statistical Analysis, of Experimental Data: A Fresh Approach Employing a Graphical Method for Investigating Non‐Normal Frequency Distributions

Antibiotic resistance in drinking water systems: Occurrence, removal, and human health risks.

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are found in various environmental matrixes and human samples. Exposure to OPFRs during gestation may interfere with pregnancy, for example, inducing maternal oxidative stress and maternal hypertension during pregnancy, interfering maternal and fetal thyroid hormone secretion and fetal neurodevelopment, and causing fetal metabolic abnormalities. However, the consequences of OPFR exposure on pregnant women, impact on mother-to-child transmission of OPFRs, and harmful effects on fetal and pregnancy outcomes have not been evaluated. This review describes the exposure to OPFRs in pregnant women worldwide, based on metabolites of OPFRs (mOPs) in urine for prenatal exposure and OPFRs in breast milk for postnatal exposure. Predictors of maternal exposure to OPFRs and variability of mOPs in urine have been discussed. Mother-to-child transmission pathways of OPFRs have been scrutinized, considering the levels of OPFRs and their metabolites in amniotic fluid, placenta, deciduae, chorionic villi, and cord blood. The results showed that bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP) and diphenyl phosphate (DPHP) were the two predominant mOPs in urine, with detection frequencies of >90%. The estimated daily intake (EDIM) indicates low risk when infants are exposed to OPFRs from breast milk. Furthermore, higher exposure levels of OPFRs in pregnant women may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and influence the developmental behavior of infants. This review summarizes the knowledge gaps of OPFRs in pregnant women and highlights the crucial steps for assessing health risks in susceptible populations, such as pregnant women and fetuses.

Qiuguo Fu

Papers

Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Pregnant Women: Sources, Occurrence, and Potential Risks to Pregnancy Outcomes.