The present study advances our understanding of the ecological risk potential associated with pharmaceutical mixtures treated with fungal enzymes. We optimized a submerged bioreactor for fungal enzyme production by testing three fungal species and adjusting the organic loading rate and retention time, yielding enzyme activities exceeding 20 U/L. These fungal enzymes effectively reduced the half-lives of tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole to less than 3 hours in a mixture of tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole, using syringaldehyde as an optimized mediator. Analytical chemistry assessments identified transformation products (TPs) generated in situ from the mixture, revealing three novel transformation pathways. Quantitative structure–activity relationship analysis highlighted two TPs with heightened toxicity and prolonged persistence compared to their parent compound. Furthermore, these TPs exhibited distinct environmental mobility characteristics at the liquid–solid interface. Our combined experimental and computational framework allowed for a systematic screening of pharmaceutical residues, considering aspects such as toxicity, mobility, persistence, bioaccumulation, and removal. This approach has practical implications for prioritizing target pollutants in subsequent monitoring and environmental risk assessments.

中文翻译：

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评估药物混合物的真菌酶处理过程中形成的转化副产物的环境风险潜力


本研究增进了我们对用真菌酶处理的药物混合物相关的潜在生态风险的理解。我们通过测试三种真菌物种并调整有机负载率和保留时间，优化了用于真菌酶生产的浸没式生物反应器，产生了超过 20 U/L 的酶活性。这些真菌酶使用丁香醛作为优化介质，有效地将四环素和磺胺甲恶唑混合物中四环素和磺胺甲恶唑的半衰期缩短至不到 3 小时。分析化学评估确定了混合物原位产生的转化产物（TP），揭示了三种新的转化途径。定量结构-活性关系分析强调了两种TP与其母体化合物相比具有更高的毒性和更长的持久性。此外，这些TP在液-固界面表现出独特的环境迁移特征。我们的实验和计算相结合的框架可以对药物残留进行系统筛选，同时考虑毒性、流动性、持久性、生物蓄积性和去除等方面。该方法对于在后续监测和环境风险评估中确定目标污染物的优先顺序具有实际意义。