Cytostatics are one of the most used therapeutic options to treat cancer. However, they are highly toxic and thus their disposal is a matter of great concern.
The excretion of cytostatics mainly occurs through urine that flows directly to the sewage system reaching waste water treatment plants (WWTP) that are unable to cost-efficiently remove cytostatics, which inevitably end up in the aquatic environment. In order to deal with this emerging public health and environmental problem we envisaged a new approach: instead of treating effluents in WWTPs, we propose the removal of cytostatics before they enter the waste water cycle, i.e. the removal of cytostatics at the source point - urine. IonCytDevice will develop and validate a technology able to effectively remove cytostatic drugs directly from the urine excreted by cancer patients, and thus contributing to decrease the environmental impact of these extremely toxic chemicals. |
IonCytDevice (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031106) is funded by FEDER, through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI), and by national funds (OE), throughFCT/MCTES.