Pollution of Soil by Pharmaceuticals: Implications for Metazoan and Environmental Health.

The use of pharmaceuticals has grown substantially and their consequential release via wastewaters poses a potential threat to aquatic and terrestrial environments. While transportation prediction models for aquatic environments are well established, they cannot be universally extrapolated to terrestrial systems. Pharmaceuticals and their metabolites are, for example, readily detected in the excreta of terrestrial organisms (including humans).

The transportation, transformation and (bio)accumulation of pharmaceuticals in the terrestrial ecosystem.

Soil dwelling organisms, plants and many primary consumers in food webs face the challenge of exposure to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) present in terrestrial systems, including thousands of substances derived from pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). The recent increase in the consumption of modern human or veterinary drugs has resulted in a surge of anthropogenic pharmaceuticals, frequently introduced into terrestrial environments via untreated/treated wastewater. Pharmaceuticals display diverse degradation and accumulation behaviours in receiving bodies, however their impact on soils has, at large, been overlooked.

Higher T-SPOT.TB threshold may aid in diagnosing active tuberculosis?: A real-world clinical practice in a general hospital.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether increased cut-off of the T-SPOT.TB could aid in diagnosing active tuberculosis (ATB).

Methods: Patients suspected of having TB were enrolled to derive a T-SPOT.