Improving monitoring and environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals, antimicrobial resistance and pathogens from terrestrial to aquatic environments

Global contamination of soil and aquatic ecosystems by pharmaceutical and microbiological pollutants (such as antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms and/or pathogens) raises severe concerns about impacts on ecosystem health and repercussions on humans and animals. Preserving ecosystems from adverse ecotoxicological effects of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products and limiting the environmental spread of antimicrobial resistance and pathogens is imperative to reach several UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the European Green Deal, Water Framework Directive and Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. To meet these huge environmental and societal challenges, public and private stakeholders and EU policy makers require improved monitoring and Environmental Risk Assessment to protect microbial diversity and functions in contaminated ecosystems.In this context, the MSCA Doctoral Network Pharm-ERA funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement 101119261) proposes a high-level interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training network based on 10 doctoral projects covering scientific disciplines including environmental and analytical chemistry, microbial ecology, ecotoxicology, molecular biology (incl. multi-omics approaches) and chemical fate/effect modelling. Pharm-ERA involves 9 Beneficiaries (including 2 non-academics) and 6 Associated Partners (including 5 non-academics), committed to contribute to research, training, dissemination, communication and exploitation of results targeting end-users such as Environmental consultancies and agencies. Pharm-ERA will provide EU with high-level scientific experts who will further shape and implement the next generation of environmental managementstrategies, EU guidelines and regulations to reduce the adverse environmental effects and risks of pharmaceuticals and the spread of antimicrobial resistance and pathogens in terrestrial and aquatic environments. This will ensure sustainability of our ecosystems, fostering positive impacts on human and animal health and well-being far beyond the Pharm-ERA project.