The effects of the chiral pharmaceuticals atenolol and propranolol on Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus luteus, and Blastomonas natatoria were investigated. The growth dynamics of exposed cultures were monitored using a Bioscreen instrument. In addition, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy with appropriate chemometrics and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were employed in order to investigate the phenotypic changes and possible degradation of the drugs in exposed cultures. For the majority of the bacteria studied there was not a statistically significant difference in the organism's phenotype when it was exposed to the different enantiomers or mixtures of enantiomers. In contrast, the pseudomonads appeared to respond differently to propranolol, and the two enantiomers had different effects on the cellular phenotype. This implies that there were different metabolic responses in the organisms when they were exposed to the different enantiomers. We suggest that our findings may indicate that there are widespread effects on aquatic communities in which active pharmaceutical ingredients are present.Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their metabolites are ubiquitous in the environment (12), and the occurrence of APIs in the aquatic environment is a growing concern (13). There are a number of routes by which APIs and their metabolites and degradation products may enter these ecosystems, and a common avenue is through excretion of the APIs and their metabolites in urine and feces. It is known that APIs have different rates of metabolism in humans. For example, the -blocker propranolol is almost completely metabolized in the liver, and only 1 to 4% of an oral dose is excreted as the unchanged API and its metabolites. In contrast, 40 to 50% of an oral dose of atenolol (also a -blocker) is excreted as the API or its metabolites (2, 6, 7). Subsequent degradation of the APIs and their metabolites may also occur at sewage treatment plants (STPs