Pharmaceuticals in Urban Freshwaters: Exposure Dynamics, Biodiversity, and Practical Monitoring

Urban rivers and streams receive continuous inputs of pharmaceuticals from households, healthcare, and wastewater systems. Concentrations can change markedly over time, with daily use patterns, rainfall/drainage, and variable treatment performance creating real-world mixtures that differ from single-compound lab exposures. These dynamics can influence organism health (physiology, behavior, reproduction) and scale up to biodiversity outcomes such as species richness, community composition, functional traits, and indices of biotic integrity. Monitoring has advanced rapidly (LC/GC-MS, passive samplers, immunoassays, sensors), while effect-based tools (bioassays, biomarkers, omics, eDNA) now help connect exposure to ecological significance. Yet, decision-makers still lack integrated evidence that links changing concentrations to actionable biological endpoints across regions and resource settings. This Topic aims to close that gap with practical, decision-ready studies.Our goal is to assemble a practice-relevant body of evidence that connects exposure dynamics of pharmaceuticals to biodiversity responses in urban freshwaters. We seek contributions that (i) characterize time-varying concentrations and environmentally realistic mixtures; (ii) pair chemistry (any validated method) with biological endpoints across taxa (invertebrates, fish, amphibians, algae/periphyton, macrophytes); and (iii) translate findings into risk prioritization and management options (e.g., nature-based solutions, treatment/operational improvements). We especially welcome studies that integrate bioavailability and water chemistry, report short-term increases following rainfall/drainage, and use effect-based approaches to bridge mechanism and ecological relevance. Comparative and multi-site studies, analyses from under-represented regions, and work that demonstrates replicability or null results are encouraged. This Topic will offer a reference set for researchers, utilities, and regulators seeking robust, scalable approaches to monitor, evaluate, and mitigate pharmaceutical pressures on urban biodiversity.We invite Original Research, Methods, Brief Research Report, Systematic Review, Review/Mini Review, and Technology & Code papers. Submissions should link exposure evidence via robust methods, or well-justified proxies (e.g., land use, treatment performance, hydrology/time series) to biological and/or biodiversity metrics. Studies may be field, mesocosm, or lab-to-field, provided environmental relevance is clear. Themes include mixtures, time-varying/short-term increases, bioavailability, effect-based tools (bioassays, biomarkers, omics), community ecology/eDNA, and risk/management translation. We encourage transparent methods, open data/code, and concise implications for practice. Null and replication studies are welcome. Marine-only studies without an urban freshwater link, purely clinical/pharmacological work, and modeling without environmental data or biological endpoints are out of scope. Studies from any region and resource setting are in scope, with encouragement for under-represented contexts. Topic editors: Wulan Koagouw, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Richard John Hazell Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/75153/pharmaceuticals-in-urban-freshwaters-exposure-dynamics-biodiversity-and-practical-monitoring