Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are emerging pollutants of concern due to their bioactivity and potential to disrupt aquatic ecosystems. Although extensively studied in Europe and North America, knowledge of their occurrence and risks in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) remains limited. This study builds upon the harmonized dataset published by our group [1], which compiled and systematized 154 peer-reviewed studies addressing the presence of PhACs in LAC aquatic environments between 1990 and 2024, and pursued two objectives: (i) to map regional research activity through scientometric analysis, and (ii) to assess ecological risks (ERA) using a hierarchical framework integrating experimental and in silico ecotoxicological evidence. Predicted No-Effect Concentrations (PNECs) were derived from a structured evidence hierarchy comprising three tiers: validated experimental data (Tier 1), VEGA QSAR predictions within the applicability domain (ADI > 0.85; Tier 2), and ECOSAR–TRIDENT integrated outputs (Tier 3). In this tier, ECOSAR mechanistic predictions were cross-validated by TRIDENT artificial intelligence. The ERA integrated measured environmental concentrations from 58 studies conducted in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Bolivia, covering 24 compounds. Approximately 71 % of all exposure scenarios were classified as negligible or low risk, whereas 29 % exhibited moderate to high ecological concern. Psychotropic drugs (sertraline, citalopram, fluoxetine, carbamazepine), macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, azithromycin, sulfamethoxazole), and the anti-inflammatory diclofenac emerged as regional priorities due to their persistence and bioactivity. Overall, this ERA framework provides a transparent and resource-efficient approach for prioritizing PhACs and managing ecological risks, suitable for regions with limited resources such as LAC and adaptable to other data-scarce areas worldwide.
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