Environmental monitoring, particularly of water, is crucial to screen and preselect potential hazardous substances for policy guidance and risk minimisation strategies. In Portugal, extensive data are missing. This work aimed to perform a qualitative survey of antibiotics in surface- groundwater, reflecting demographic, spatial, consumption and drug profiles during an observational period of three years. A passive sampling technique (POCIS) and high-resolution chromatographic system were used to monitor and analyse the antibiotics. The most frequently detected antibiotics were enrofloxacin/ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in surface-groundwater, while clarithromycin/erythromycin and sulfamethoxazole were identified only in surface water. The detection of enzyme inhibitors (e.g., tazobactam/cilastatin) used exclusively in hospitals and abacavir, a specific human medicine was also noteworthy. North (Guimarães, Santo Tirso and Porto) and South (Faro, Olhão and Portimão) Portugal were the regions with the most significant frequency of substances in surface water. The relatively higher detection downstream of the effluent discharge points compared with a low detection upstream could be attributed to a low efficiency in urban wastewater treatment plants and an increased agricultural pressure. This screening approach is essential to identify substances in order to perform future quantitative risk assessment and establishing water quality standards. The greatest challenge of this survey data is to promote an ecopharmacovigilance framework, implement measures to avoid misuse/overuse of antibiotics and slow down emission and antibiotic resistance.

The environmental release of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals is an imminent threat due to ecological impacts and microbial resistance phenomena. The recent COVID-19 outbreak will likely lead to greater loads of antimicrobials in the environment. Thus, identifying the most used antimicrobials likely to pose environmental risks would be valuable. For that, the ambulatory and hospital consumption patterns of antimicrobials in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) were compared with those of 2019. A predicted risk assessment screening approach based on exposure and hazard in the surface water was conducted, combining consumption, excretion rates, and ecotoxicological/microbiological endpoints in five different regions of Portugal. Among the 22 selected substances, only rifaximin and atovaquone demonstrated predicted potential ecotoxicological risks for aquatic organisms. Flucloxacillin, piperacillin, tazobactam, meropenem, ceftriaxone, fosfomycin, and metronidazole showed the most significant potential for antibiotic resistance in all analysed regions. Regarding the current screening approach and the lack of environmental data, it is advisable to consider rifaximin and atovaquone in subsequent water quality surveys. These results might support the forthcoming monitorisation of surface water quality in a post-pandemic survey.

Antifungals support modern medical and agricultural practices, and extensive screening environmental data are missing. This work aims to survey antifungals for medical and agricultural purposes in surface- and groundwater in Portugal. A passive sampling technique and a high-resolution chromatographic system were used. Antifungals applied in medical practice were not detected as only antifungals for agricultural purposes (fungicides). Thirty-nine different fungicide molecules were found; its detection frequency in surface- and groundwater was dominated by rabenzazole (61%, 92%) and ethoxyquin (54%, 77%); among the five fungicides with similar surface- and groundwater catching rates, ferimzone was the most polluting (54%, 54%); oxadixyl (61%), kresoxim-methyl (61%) and fenamidone (46%) were primarily designated surface water contaminants; for azoles, the occurrence in surface water ranged from a residual (10%) to a moderate detection rate for two compounds (31%—propiconazole and tebuconazole). Surprisingly, only 51% of detected fungicides are authorised. The frequently detected fungicides that are either not authorised (ethoxyquin and its impurity, furmecyclox, oxadixyl), without data in the EU (rabenzazole, ferimzone), or authorised at the national level (fenamidone), should be included in environmental monitoring programmes and followed as emerging (micro)contaminants. Policy makers should gather their efforts to allow the implementation of proper risk management and effective contamination control strategies to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.