Toxicological implications of emerging pollutants on aquatic organisms

Emerging pollutants (EPs), including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products, microplastics, nanoparticles, and heavy metals, pose significant environmental threats and are increasingly affecting aquatic organisms. This review consolidates recent findings on how EPs enter aquatic systems through industrial discharges, agricultural runoff, wastewater, and landfill leachate, where they persist, bioaccumulate, and exert chronic toxic effects. Evidence indicated that EPs may induce oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, genotoxicity, and immunotoxicity as primary mechanisms of toxicity. In fish, exposure to microplastics, nanoparticles, and pesticides may disrupt antioxidant enzyme activities, impair…