PREMIER partners publish new scientific paper: Read-across of biotransformation potential between activated sludge and the terrestrial environment: Toward making it practical and plausible

The PREMIER project is aiming to close data gaps for legacy pharmaceuticals with high risk or exposure potential but that lack Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) data. One promising approach involves activated sludge experiments, which provide a quick and cost-effective way to predict environmental persistence. This study refines the “read-across” method, demonstrating that biotransformation patterns in sludge can help estimate degradation half-lives in soil and aquatic systems.

By calibrating models with a set of reference substances, researchers achieved reliable predictions for soil degradation half-lives but identified challenges in predicting persistence in water-sediment systems. Expanding the reference substances towards substances that are more representative of pharmaceuticals could further improve accuracy.

Beyond ERA for legacy pharmaceuticals, this method has significant potential for “degradable-by-design” efforts in pharmaceutical research and development. By enabling early screening of persistence, it supports the creation of environmentally safer chemicals, reducing long-term pollution risks. It therefore aligns well with PREMIER’s ambition to ensure that future pharmaceuticals are designed with both efficacy and environmental safety in mind.

See the article here.