Highlights

• Ten PhACs detected in Red Sea corals, indicating pharmaceutical contamination.

• The antibiotic sulfamethoxazole prevalent in 93% of samples.

• Elevated PhAC concentrations in shallow sites underscore human impact.

• Urgent need for conservation measures to mitigate PhAC pollution in coral reefs.

Conclusions

Our study provides novel insights into the presence of pharmaceutically-active compounds (PhACs) in reef-building stony corals from the Red Sea. The detection of ten different PhACs in coral tissues, with elevated concentrations in shallow sites and areas with heavy human activity, underscores the urgent need for conservation efforts to mitigate anthropogenic contamination in coral reef ecosystems. These findings highlight the vulnerability of coral reefs to pharmaceutical pollution