title: Pharmaceuticals and Personal-Care Products in Plants.
abstract: Pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (PPCPs) derived from agricultural, urban, and industrial areas accumulate in plants at concentrations (ng to μg kg-1) that can be toxic to the plants. Importantly, the dietary intake of these PPCP-contaminated plants may also pose a risk to human health, but currently little is known about the fate of PPCPs in plants and their effect on or risk to the ecosystem. In this Opinion article we propose that in-depth research on the use of plants as a monitoring device for assessing the use and environmental presence of PPCPs is warranted. The toxicity of PPCPs to plants and their microbiota needs to be established, as well as any toxic effects on herbivores including humans.
authors.affiliation: BETA Technological Centre (Tecnio), Aquatic Ecology Group, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, Vic 08500, Barcelona, Spain; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Global Ecology Unit Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF)-CSIC-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra 08193, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: mireia.bartrons@uvic.cat.
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartrons
authors.affiliation: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Global Ecology Unit Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF)-CSIC-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra 08193, Barcelona, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peñuelas
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants