This work determined the solid-water distribution coefficient Kd, the Freundlich constant KF and the organic carbon normalized coefficient K0c of ibuprofen in natural, aquifer sediments. They are characterized as silt sediments with different clay and sand fraction contents varied in specific surface areas. Content of organic carbon and pH are on the same level. For determining sorption coefficients values of ibuprofen in sediments, its concentration was measured in the aqueous and calculated in the solid phase. Batch tests were conducted following OECD Guideline 106. The resulting Kd values ranged between 1.14 and 2.29 L/kg, ~ between 0.25 and 5.48 and Koc between 1.22 and 2.53 for ibuprofen in sediments SI and S2, respectively. These experiments proved that the presence of clay minerals beside organic carbon and pH might be relevant in sorption of ibuprofen in sediments. A comparison of experimentally determined Koc with modelled Koc calculated on the base of octanol-water partitioning coefficient K0w shows that the prediction of sorption behaviour cannot be based only on Kow· This is probably due to the fact that these approaches well describe hydrophobic interactions, but fail to predict sorption of polar and ionic compounds.

Cytostatic drugs have become one of the greatest environmental hazards. They exhibit toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects on flora and fauna, including people. They are poorly eliminated in conventional wastewater treatment plants and their mixtures could possess higher ecotoxicity than individual drugs. Fungi are organisms with enormous potential for biodegradation of a variety of toxic chemical pollutants. The aim of this work was to estimate tolerance of five fungal strains to selected anticancer drugs, which will be useful to determine the potential for their possible use in cytostatics removal and may be significant in the context of wastewater treatment application. Test was conducted on Fomes fomentarius (CB13), Hypholoma fasciculare (CB15), Phyllotopsis nidulans (CB14), Pleurotus ostreatus (BWPH) and Trametes versicolor (CB8) and the chosen drugs were bleomycin and vincristine. Their ability to grow in the presence of selected cytostatics was evaluated in cultures conducted on two solid media which differed in the richness of nutrient compounds. Fungal strains tolerance was expressed as a half maximal effective concentration. Results showed that fungi display better tolerance to high cytostatics’ concentrations in the medium rich in carbon source. Regardless of the medium used, the differences in growth ability were lower for bleomycin (the tolerance was higher). The greatest tolerance for bleomycin was shown by Pleurotus ostreatus. Results suggest that more efficient elimination of bleomycin would be possible to obtain, strain BWPH seems to be the best fungal candidate for this drug degradation assay and, probably, in wastewater treatment application tests in a longer perspective.

The paper considers a particular case of onomastic motivation, providing examples of the use of the adjective tani ‘cheap’ in the creation of pharmacy names in Poland (e.g. Tanie Leki ‘cheap medicines’, Tania Apteka ‘cheap pharmacy’). This Polish word is frequently used in marketing, both as an element of company names and marketing slogans. In many instances tani constitutes part of a complex pharmacy name, e.g.: Całotygodniowa Apteka Familijna — Tylko Tanie Leki, Super Tania Apteka im. Zawiszy Czarnego, Centrum Tanich Leków — Apteka św. Barbary. On the basis of judgments from Polish administrative courts, the article discusses the question of the distinction or lack of one between advertisements and proper names. The significant fact is that the Pharmaceutical Law has prohibited the advertising of the operations of pharmacies since 2012 and, as a result, the use of names with the component tani was found to be in violation of the provision. In response to this, the owners of stores have argued that the proper name refers to the object alone, having no literal meaning. The controversial phrases were used to create legal names which are placed on signboards and in announcements. The paper focuses on a more general problem: chrematonyms and appellative lexis can hardly be distinguished due to their persuasive and marketing value.

In this work, a highly effective catalyst (MoO3) is synthesized and applied for catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater. The catalyst is systematically characterized to investigate the morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition, and the findings demostrated that MoO3 catalyst is successfully synthesized. The degradation mechanism is also illustrated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The degradation experiments confirm that MoO3 catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic performance in CWAO, and the removal rate of TOC (Total Organic Carbon) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) is achieved to more than 93%. The catalyst doses, reaction temperature and reaction time have a significant impact on the removal of pollutants. The degradation process of pollutants in CWAO could be satisfactorily fitted by the second-order kinetics. Besides, MoO3 displays a favorable stability as CWAO catalyst. DFT calculation illustrates that MoO3 catalyst is a typical indirect band gap semiconductor. Moreover, the high temperature environment provides the thermal excitation energy, which favors to the free electrons nearing Fermi level to escape the material surface, and excites them to the conduction band, then directly reduces the pollutants in CWAO. These findings demonstrate that MoO3 can be used as an efficient and excellent catalyst for CWAO of pharmaceutical wastewater.

Correct diagnosis and appropriate selection of pharmacotherapy will not upgrade patient’s health if the drug is not available in the pharmacy. Pharmaceutical supply chain breakdown may occur due to epidemiological or political reasons. Then, the finished drug form factories located in Poland will not secure the drug supply. Thus, cooperation of the scientific community with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries is necessary to boost the domestic manufacturing of active pharmaceutical substances and substrates. Due to number of substances needed, the scale of national demand and the investments, the problem needs to be solved at European level. The Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe is an important guidance in this regard. The aim of our paper is to review the current state, indicate solutions and initiate a discussion on the development of the synthesis of active pharmaceutical substances in Poland. We focused on small-molecular compounds, the national perspective and the relationship between the synthesis of active substances and protection of the natural environment. Point actions for investments in infrastructure as well as research and development are not enough. Thus, we propose to create a system supporting synthesis of active pharmaceutical substances in Poland.