Degradation and Ecotoxicity of the Biomedical Drug Artemisinin in Soil

Ca2+– and Ba2+–Ligand Coordinated Unilamellar, Multilamellar, and Oligovesicular Vesicles

“…The variation between the controls expressed as the coefficient of variation ( CV ) of the controls was 8.3% for algae, 9.7% for duckweed, and 48.9% for lettuce. These variations are within the range reported in the literature 4, 28, 34. The EC10 and EC50 values are listed in Table 1.…”

“…Cultivating plants that produce bioactive compounds, such as medicines, in monocultures can result in high exposure concentration of the bioactive compound to soil and water living organisms via root exudates, leaching from leaves by rain, and decomposition of plant residues affecting the local environment. As recently shown for the antimalarial crop Artemisia annua L. and cruciferous plants, bioactive compounds produced by plants can be transferred to the soil environment and affect organisms living in soil 3, 4. In addition, the transfer of bioactive compounds to the soil environment from genetically modified crops has been shown for the insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins from transgenic corn and human serum albumin from transgenic tobacco 5, 6.…”

Mechanism of artemisinin phytotoxicity action: Induction of reactive oxygen species and cell death in lettuce seedlings

“…In addition, artemisinin also plays important roles in ecological interactions against insect pests and fungal pathogens, as well as in allelopathy (Jessing et al, 2014). Relatively high levels of artemisinin have been detected in the soils from both A. annua field and culture pots (Jessing et al, 2009(Jessing et al, , 2011Herrmann et al, 2013). Once released into the surroundings, artemisinin could inhibit the growth of other plants (Lydon et al, 1997;Delabays et al, 2008;Jessing et al, 2009) and affect the soil microorganism (Herrmann et al, 2013).…”

“…Relatively high levels of artemisinin have been detected in the soils from both A. annua field and culture pots (Jessing et al, 2009(Jessing et al, , 2011Herrmann et al, 2013). Once released into the surroundings, artemisinin could inhibit the growth of other plants (Lydon et al, 1997;Delabays et al, 2008;Jessing et al, 2009) and affect the soil microorganism (Herrmann et al, 2013). Additionally, bioassays showed that artemisinin affects growth and/or seed germination in crops, weeds and aquatic plants, as well as A. annua itself (Duke et al, 1987;Lydon et al, 1997;Dayan et al, 1999;Panamanik et al, 2008).…”

Parthenolide in Danish biodynamic and organic milk: A new source of exposure to an allergenic sesquiterpene lactone

“…Likewise, another experimental study on the degradation rate of the SL artemisinin from Artemisia annua L. (sweet wormwood) showed a 2‐phase decay process, and artemisinin was detectable for 60 and 35 days in sandy and loamy soils, respectively. The soil concentration of artemisinin in a Danish field of sweet wormwood was up to 11.7 mg/kg, and, based on the water solubility of artemisinin, the SL was considered to be potentially leachable and thus capable of polluting surface water . Another SL, parthenin from Parthenium hysterophorus L., had a half‐life of 59 hours under conditions similar to those reported by Jessing et al Thus, SLs are degraded differently according to their molecular structure, and no data are available for PHL.…”