Co-funded by the State Budget
Purpose-specific subsidy granted to institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network
Project No.: 4/Ł-PORT/CŁ/2021
Project value: 1,147,373.39 PLN
Funding value: 1,032,612.39 PLN
Project implementation period: 01/10/2021 – 30/09/2023
Project leader: Róża Szweda, PhD Eng.
The problem of water contamination with pharmaceuticals, including endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), is intensifying due to the increasing consumption of medicines in developed societies and the omnipresence of plastic waste. Pharmaceuticals that are not fully metabolized enter wastewater through urine and subsequently migrate into groundwater, eventually reaching drinking water. Components of plastics, such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, which structurally resemble natural hormones, diffuse into the environment from unmanaged waste. Their biological effects manifest even in trace amounts.
Currently, no single treatment technology enables the complete removal of these contaminants from processed water. Even the detection of EDCs in water poses a challenge because they occur at very low concentrations, often below the detection limits of commonly used analytical methods. Despite their trace quantities, these compounds are highly hazardous to living organisms, as they disrupt normal biological functions even at minimal levels. Endocrine-disrupting compounds interfere with the synthesis, transport, binding, action, or excretion of hormones present in the body. The issue of pharmaceuticals in water is the subject of ongoing debate both at the European level (including Directives 2008/105/EC and 2013/39/EU) and in Poland (parliamentary interpellation No. 8295). In accordance with Article 8b of Directive 2008/105/EC, a watch-list mechanism has been established. Under this mechanism, EU Member States prepare monitoring programs for substances placed on watch lists (including nonylphenol) and submit the monitoring results to the European Commission annually.
The scientific objective of the project is to develop new fluorescent polymers with a defined monomer sequence, serving as highly selective and extremely sensitive probes programmed to detect substances present at low concentrations. Owing to their precisely defined primary structure (monomer sequence), the polymers will act as specific probes for the detection of selected EDCs. The first selected target is nonylphenol. The proposed technology is universal and has the potential to become a highly sensitive tool for detecting various types of substances across numerous fields, including environmental monitoring and diagnostics.
