Interpretation of the risk associated with emerging contaminants in the aquatic systems for BRICS Nations

BRICS countries represent some of the fastest-growing world's economies and populations. At the same time, the five nations face the challenge of poor health-hygiene and water quality crisis. The rapid industrialization and reforms to provide substantial health systems have resulted in the ubiquitous presence of emerging contaminants, mostly pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), in the different ecosystem matrices. Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is advancing global health concerns. Thus, evaluating the ecological, human health, and microbial risks associated with PPCPs is necessary. With this aim, the study was designed to assess the risk of PPCPs and AMR in the surface water. The application of point of use (POU) technologies as a plausible option to reduce the risk associated was determined. The most frequently detected PPCPs in five regions from the secondary data included ibuprofen (IBP), diclofenac (DCF), carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CAF), ciprofloxacin (CIP), trimethoprim (TMP), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and methylparaben (MPB). However, the risk associated with the above-mentioned PPCPs was not estimated in any case. The widespread presence of CAF enabled the detection of anthropogenic pollution. Similarly, the dominance of antibiotics was attributed to the overuse of antibiotics or non-astringent regulation. In terms of spatial variation, the PPCP concentration was in the order: India > China > Brazil > South Africa. We determined the ecological risk for surface water samples, and high risk (RQ > 1) was found for algae, daphnia, and fish for almost all PPCPs. For chronic human health risk, high carcinogenic (5×10-6-1.8×10-1) and non-carcinogenic risk coefficients (HQ = 2.5×10-4-11.5) were determined for various age groups. The age groups 16-21 years and 21-50 years depicted the least overall risk between 0.9 and 10. The probability of AMR risk was carried out using the quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) method. Human exposure via accidental and incidental ingestion was obtained in the range of 50-106CFU/100 mL E. coli, with the variation in the probability of illness greater than 0.9. On evaluating the POU technologies for microbial reduction, maximum risk drop was obtained for carbon filter combined with UV with a reduction of probability of illness by 0.007. Overall, the study aids in fulfilling the large gap in PPCPs' monitoring and risk in the emerging countries (BRICS) compared with North American and European countries.