The anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen is considered to be an emerging contaminant because of its presence in different environments (from water bodies to soils) at concentrations with adverse effects on aquatic organisms due to cytotoxic and genotoxic damage, high oxidative cell stress, and detrimental effects on growth, reproduction, and behavior. Because of its high human consumption rate and low environmental degradation rate, ibuprofen represents an emerging environmental problem. Ibuprofen enters the environment from different sources and accumulates in natural environmental matrices. The problem of drugs, particularly ibuprofen, as contaminants is complicated because few strategies consider them or apply successful technologies to remove them in a controlled and efficient manner. In several countries, ibuprofen’s entry into the environment is an unattended contamination problem. It is a concern for our environmental health system that requires more attention. Due to its physicochemical characteristics, ibuprofen degradation is difficult in the environment or by microorganisms. There are experimental studies that are currently focused on the problem of drugs as potential environmental contaminants. However, these studies are insufficient to address this ecological issue worldwide. This review focuses on deepening and updating the information concerning ibuprofen as a potential emerging environmental contaminant and the potential for using bacteria for its biodegradation as an alternative technology.

Biofilm formation on medical and surgical devices is a major virulence determinant forStaphylococcus epidermidis. The bacteriumS.epidermidisis able to produce biofilms on biotic and abiotic surfaces and is the cause of ocular infection (OI). Recent studies have shown thatd-amino acids inhibit and disrupt biofilm formation in the prototype strainsBacillus subtilisNCBI3610 andStaphylococcus aureusSCO1. The effect ofd-amino acids onS.epidermidisbiofilm formation has yet to be tested for clinical or commensal isolates.S.epidermidisstrains isolated from healthy skin (n = 3), conjunctiva (n = 9) and OI (n = 19) were treated withd-Leu,d-Tyr,d-Pro,d-Phe,d-Met ord-Ala and tested for biofilm formation. The presence ofd-amino acids during biofilm formation resulted in a variety of patterns. Some strains were sensitive to all amino acids tested, while others were sensitive to one or more, and one strain was resistant to all of them when added individually; in this wayd-Met inhibited most of the strains (26/31), followed byd-Phe (21/31). Additionally, the use ofd-Met inhibited biofilm formation on a contact lens. The use ofl-isomers caused no defect in biofilm formation in all strains tested. In contrast, when biofilms were already formedd-Met,d-Phe andd-Pro were able to disrupt it. In summary, here we demonstrated the inhibitory effect ofd-amino acids on biofilm formation inS.epidermidis. Moreover, we showed, for the first time, thatS.epidermidisclinical strains have a different sensitivity to these compounds during biofilm formation.

The aim of this study was to assess the bacterial diversity associated with a corrosive biofilm in a steel pipeline from the Gulf of Mexico used to i