Pharmaceutical compounds based on nitrogen-containing heterocycles as a new class of environmental pollutants (review)

Pharma pollutants are highly stable compounds with diverse chemical structures and expressed biological activities. They are found in soil, bottom sediments of reservoirs, wastewaters, groundwaters and even in drinking water. The uncontrolled release of drugs into the open ecosystems is potentially dangerous, as the consequences of their impact on organisms can be unpredictable. Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds are abundant among pharma pollutants detected in the environment. Better understanding of the processes occurring in the environment requires search for effective ways of these hazardous compound detoxification, study of their bioavailability and toxic effects on living organisms, including microorganisms, and determination of the relationship between the systematic affinity of microorganisms and their ability to degrade the drugs.