Brief Summary

• In recent years the occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the environment has been recognised as an emerging issue.
• Since PhACs are developed with the intention of performing a biological action, these findings have prompted concern over their environmental fate and potential ecological effects.
• Photochemical degradation is potentially a very important degradation mechanism for the removal of PhACs in the aquatic environment.
• Many PhACs feature aromatic rings, heteroatoms, or other functional groups that can either absorb solar radiation or react with photogenerated transient species in natural waters (e.g. reactive oxygen species and photoexcited natural organic matter).
• A comprehensive search of the literature, involving research into around 200 PhACs previously detected in the environment was undertaken to establish the most suitable candidates for photodgradation studies.
• The anti-anxiety drug diazepam (Valium®) along with its known human metabolites, nordiazepam, temazepam and oxazepam were selected for photodegradation studies.

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