The environmental occurrence of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistant genes has become a global phenomenon and a multifaceted threat. Integrated actions of many parties are needed to prevent further aggravation of the problem. Well-directed actions require clear understanding of the problem, which can be ensured by frequent revaluation of the existing knowledge and disseminating it among relevant audiences. The goal of this review paper is to discuss the occurrence and abundance of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment in context of adverse effects caused directly by these substances and the threat associated with the antibiotics resistance phenomenon. Several classes of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals (aminoglycosides, β-lactams, glycopeptides, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides and trimethoprim, tetracyclines) have been selected to illustrate their sources, environmental abundance, degradation routes (transformation products) and environmental implications including their ecotoxic effect and the spread of antibiotic resistance within the compartments of the aquatic environment and wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plants are indeed the main source responsible for the prevalence of these factors in the aquatic environment, since predominantly the plants have not been designed to retain antimicrobial pharmaceuticals. In order to limit the prevalence of these impurities into the environment, better source control is recommended as well as the establishment of stricter environmental quality standards. Counteracting all the above-mentioned threats requires to undertake integrated activities based on cooperation of professionals and scientists from various fields of science or industry, such as environmental sciences, medicine, veterinary, pharmacology, chemical engineering and others.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are significant source of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which can spread further in the environment by reaching rivers together with effluents discharged from WWTPs. In this study untreated and treated wastewater (UWW, TWW), upstream and downstream river water (URW, DRW) were collected from 4 WWTPs, in the winter and autumn seasons. The occurrence of ARB resistant to beta-lactams and tetracyclines as well as the presence of antibiotics from these classes were analysed in water and wastewater samples. Additionally, the amounts of 12 ARGs, 2 genes of mobile genetic elements (MGEs), gene uidA identifying E. coli and 16S rRNA were also determined. Resistance to beta-lactams prevailed among ARB in water and wastewater samples (constituting 82-88% of total counts of bacteria). The dominant genes in water and wastewater samples were blaTEM, tetA, sul1. The gene blaOXA demonstrated high variability of its concentration in samples collected in both seasons. Despite the high per cent reduction of ARB and ARGs concentration observed during the wastewater treatment processes, their large quantities are still transmitted into the environment. The research focuses on WWTPs' role in the dissemination of ARGs and MGEs in the aquatic environment.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) are promising green solvents for the extraction of compounds from natural products. This is the first study to use a sample preparation method based on NADES for the extraction of flavonoids (rutin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, naringenin, naringin, quercetin, hesperetin, and chrysin) from fruits, vegetables, and spices. In total, 17 types of NADES based on choline chloride, acetylcholine chloride, choline tartrate, betaine, and carnitine with different compositions were tailored to test their extraction efficiency. Operational conditions such as water content in NADES and liquid/solid ratios were also studied. A response surface methodology was used for multivariate optimization of some extraction parameters. Efficient recovery of extracted flavonoids (higher than 70%) was achieved using a 30% water solution of acetylcholine chloride/lactic acid ratio (2:1) as an extraction solvent. Other conditions for SLE-NADES were as follows: liquid/solid ratio 3:1, extraction temperature 60 °C, extraction time 30 min, and stirring speed 1400 rpm. Each extract was analyzed by UHPLC with UV and MS/MS detection. The developed method was applied for analysis of flavonoids in fruits (cranberry, fruits of Lycium barbarum L., grape, plum, and orange peel), vegetables (onion and broccoli), and spices (mustard, rosemary, and black pepper).

Today, great emphasis is placed on the search for and dissemination of native plant materials in various industries, with particular emphasis on food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and as livestock feed and a source of biomass. Solid-liquid extraction (SLE), solid phase extraction (SPE), and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of 30 flavonoids and phenolic acids in plant materials (lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea L.), phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), and lavender (Lavandula spica L.)). Different SLE methods were tested to evaluate their applicability for the isolation of polyphenols from plants. Then extracts were purified with a C18 reversed-phase SPE cartridge. After extraction, samples were analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS. The SLE-SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS assay method has been fully validated. For the most compounds, good recoveries and RSDs (< 10%) were obtained. Limits of quantification range from 0.4 to 20 ng/mL. The main phenolic acids in the studied plants have been found to be 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Quercetin, rutin, glabridin, and naringenin are the major flavonoids detected in the analyzed samples. The obtained scientific data can be useful to select plant materials with high nutritional value and the presence of many biologically active ingredients, as well as selecting samples used as a plant biomass, as food, and as a component of dietary supplements.