Pharmaceuticals and emerging contaminants in the environment: degradation in phytotreatment schemes through the water- soil-plant continuum

Over the last decade, pharmaceuticals have been worldwide documented in aquatic environments including groundwater and surface waters. Evidences of eco-toxicological impacts have been highlighted. Many pharmaceuticals are not degraded by conventional wastewater treatments; engineered tertiary treatment is expensive in terms of energy consumption, systems maintenance, and greenhouse gases emissions.

The Biodiversity strategies and policy worldwide have set specific targets for maintaining and enhancing ecosystems and their services by establishing green infrastructures and restoring degraded ecosystems. Specifically for water policy, recent reports indicated that green infrastructures and nature-based solutions (water retention measures) could greatly contribute to address environmental, social and economic challenges in sustainable ways.

Sant’anna School and Israeli partner (the Agricultural Research Organisation –Volcani Center) of the PHARM-SWAP MED (removal of PHARMaceuticals from treated wastewaters in the Soil-WAter-Plant continuum in the MEDiterranean basin) project, funded by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the Directorate General for Political and Security Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation under the Fourth Call for Proposals on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (Scientific Track), organized the PHARM-SWAP MED workshop to discuss the mass balance of a typical pharmaceutical (carbamazepine) in the soil-plant-leachate continuum both in agricultural and VSAT settings.  In particular, the research goal of Sant’Anna School team is to test Constructed Wetland systems and Vegetated Filters as means for tertiary treatment of municipal wastewater in wet conditions. Specific objectives will consist in improving the understanding of the biodegradation pathways of pharmaceuticals with a special focus on assessing the influence in the degradation patterns of organic soils, plant species identity and microbial inoculants in the degradation pathway. 

The workshop enjoys the support of the Partenariato Europeo per l’Innovazione sull’Acqua – Gruppo di Azione “Managed Aquifer Recharge Strategies and Actions”.

Italian will be the working language. Some speakers will deliver their presentations in the English language. The PHARM-SWAP MED workshop is free and open to the public. You are kindly requested to register. Registrations must be sent in writing to Simone Piacentini; s. piacentini@santannapisa.it

In attachment he workshop agenda.