The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals

该项目旨在评估废水处理厂排出的药物对环境的影响。微量的人类药物存在于污水和城市水道中，但在污水处理过程中，一些药物可能会经历一种被称为手性反转的化学转化。在某些情况下，这可能会将相对无害的环境污染物转化为更具生态毒性的物种。这个项目将调查为什么以及如何使一些药物变得对手性转化敏感，并评估生态毒理差异。这项工作有望确定在环境风险评估中考虑手性转化的意义，并将其应用于包括杀虫剂和工业化学品在内的更广泛的化学品。

This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically toxic species. This project will investigate why and how some pharmaceuticals become susceptible to chiral inversion and assess ecotoxicological differences. This work is expected to determine the significance of considering chiral inversion in environmental risk assessment, with applications to a broader range of chemicals including pesticides and industrial chemicals.