Endocrine Disruption and Emerging Pollutants: The Case of Pharmaceuticals Products with Amphibians as Model Species

BACH N. C.

EC Pharmacology and Toxicology

E Cronicon

Año: 2019

1016-9954

In recent years, emerging pollutants, and their effects on the different components of ecosystems, have received great attention from researchers around the world. But what are the emerging pollutants? We can classify emerging pollutants into three types: the new compounds (or molecules) that have recently appeared; contaminants of emerging interest that are those that existed a while ago, but their effects and mechanisms are unknown in relation to environmental pollution; and emerging problems on ?old? pollutants, that is, new information about how these compounds already present in the environment are affecting ecosystems and human health [1]. Examples of emerging pollutants are Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polybrominated compounds, Neonicotinoid Pesticides, Pharmaceuticals, Bisphenol A and Phthalates, and the broad family of Nanoparticles, among many others [1].These compounds, moreover, are usually found under the category of environmentally persistent or pseudo-persistent pollutants. Persistent pollutants are ubiquitous in the environment, often in concentrations that can endanger the reproductive fitness of organisms, after long periods of exposure [2]. Although the environmental concentrations of emerging pollutants are usually relatively low, the consequences are not unconcerned, because these compounds present in the environment are potential pollutants, often designed to alter the physiology at low concentrations through interaction with specific molecular receptors, many of which are evolutionarily conserved in vertebrates [3]. Thus, adverse effects in non-target species are more likely to occur as a consequence of compound interactions with specific receptors, rather than occurring in a non-specific manner [4,5]. The increase in the use of pesticides and drugs designed to be biologically active at low doses, together with the anthropogenic activity that affects the availability of natural habitat resources, can be one of the causes of the global wildlife crisis [6,7].