5. Conclusion

Analytical improvements over the last few years, and in particular singular reductions in detection thresholds, have made what may be long-standing problems "emerging". However, the sheer number of substances detected means that new needs are emerging. The control of their presence, their transformation and the fate of pharmaceutical products in the environment pose three major challenges:

• development and optimization of analytical methods for various environmental samples. Around 150 pharmaceutical compounds have already been detected in the environment, mainly in aqueous media. The range of pharmaceuticals and metabolites covered by analytical methods needs to be extended, particularly for environmental samples with more complex matrices. The sensitivity of methods needs to be optimized to enable the analysis of these compounds;

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