Uptake and translocation of pharmaceuticals in plants: Principles and data analysis

Pharmaceuticals originating from reclaimed wastewater or biosolid-, livestock manure- or sewage sludge-amended soils can enter crops by irrigation and fertilization. Generally, the putative uptake occurs through the plants’ roots and can lead to the bioaccumulation in different plant parts. The uptake and translocation therefore is dependent on multiple parameters, i.e. physicochemical properties of compounds, plant physiology and environmental factors. This book chapter combines a theoretical background on the main principles of uptake and translocation of pharmaceuticals by plants and a critical evaluation of current available literature, by analysing studies for the bioconcentration and translocation factors of different pharmaceutical groups in several plant species. Thereby, interesting results were obtained by looking at the translocation of various pharmaceuticals in radish and at cationic compounds in soil studies. Comparing the different studies, the relevance of testing not only high but also real environmental concentrations became obvious, since for some pharmaceuticals, higher uptake and translocation ratios were achieved with lower applied concentrations. Basic guidelines could provide a possibility to make scientific data more comparable and reliable and to avoid the exclusion of potential reasons for the missing uptake or translocation of pharmaceuticals. This book chapter provides recommendations for future research studies to generate more valid conclusions within the scientific community.