## 3 Results and Discussion
### Early Growth Parameters  
Figure 2 shows the length of the roots (A) and shoots (B) of the basil seedlings affected by each pharmaceutical or their mixture, added at different doses, with respect to the control. CLR, CLZ, DCF, and GFZ showed better values than the control when applied at 25 and 50 ppb doses, while FCZ and KET showed better values up to 200 ppb dose. Anyway, previous PhACs showed the hormesis phenomenon, that is, a biphasic response, favorable and inhibitory effect at low and high doses, respectively [33]. Similarly, other authors reported a greater growth of roots in some plants with the application of low doses of pharmaceuticals and a growth inhibition with the application of high doses of pharmaceuticals [34; 35; 36; 37]. Finally, CBZ, SMX, and TMP did not cause modification in root length at any concentration of applied dose, while MTP, NPX, TCS, and MIX induced a significant reduction in root length only when higher doses were applied. No PhACs studied showed hormesis, and none resulted in longer shoots than the control, except CBZ, which showed slightly higher values when applied at the highest doses. FCZ and GFZ did not cause any significant variation in the length of the shoot, while the remaining PhACs showed a similar trend to one observed for the corresponding root length. The VI-I index confirmed that doses 25 and 50 ppb resulted in the best vigor, while the same index decreased with increasing concentration of solutions (Table 2). In addition, the PhACs studied were segregated by the VI-I index in two groups: one composed of MIX, CLZ, NPX, and TCS, characterized by the lowest vigor, and the other one, represented by the remaining PhACs, showing the best vigor. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **GE** & **FGP** & **MGT** & **SVI-I** & **SVI-II** \\ \hline
50 ppm & 58.46 ab & 77.53 ab & 3.28 bc & 453.41 a & 128.14 a \\
100 ppm & 60.76 a & 77.07 ab & 3.16 bc & 406.53 b & 120.42 a \\
200 ppm & 60.92 a & 74.46 bc & 3.05 c & 331.23 c & 76.13 b \\
600 ppm & 58.30 ab & 71.53 c & 3.05 c & 266.45 d & 63.28 b \\
**PhACs** & & & & & \\ Mix & 69.00 a & 75.00 ab & 2.69 d & 311.10 b & 71.52 b \\ CBZ & 67.00 ab & 78.33 ab & 2.85 cd & 462.89 a & 85.26 b \\ CLR & 54.00 c & 76.33 ab & 3.48 ab & 430.71 a & 76.06 b \\ CLZ & 53.33 c & 71.00 b & 3.26 abc & 308.86 b & 236.02 a \\ DCF & 57.33 c & 76.66 ab & 3.26 abc & 415.41 a & 81.72 b \\ FCZ & 56.33 c & 78.00 ab & 3.39 ab & 438.23 a & 80.90 b \\ GFZ & 57.33 c & 77.33 ab & 3.37 ab & 444.01 a & 81.46 b \\ KET & 58.00 c & 76.66 ab & 3.23 abc & 452.97 a & 83.94 b \\ MTP & 54.00 c & 77.66 ab & 3.57 a & 409.31 a & 76.70 b \\ NPX & 57.66 c & 74.33 ab & 3.26 abc & 318.06 b & 217.81 a \\ SMX & 56.00 c & 77.33 ab & 3.40 ab & 416.82 a & 77.39 b \\ TCS & 59.66 bc & 75.66 ab & 3.09 bcd & 304.01 b & 71.01 b \\ TMP & 59.33 bc & 80.00 a & 3.39 ab & 431.34 a & 79.49 b \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} The values in each column (mean of five replications) followed by a different letter are significantly different. **: significant at \(p<0.01\); **: significant at \(p<0.001\); n.s.: non-significant. GE, Germination Energy; FGP, Final Germination Percentage; MGT, Mean Germination Time; SUFI-I, Seed vigor index-I; SSV-II, Seed vigor index-II.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._Figure 3 shows the dry weight of the roots (A) and the shoots (B). CBZ, CLZ, DCF, NPX, and TCS showed hormesis, that is, a significant increase in the dry weight of the root when applied at 100 ppb concentration (200 ppb for CBZ) compared to the control, while they decreased the same parameter at higher solution concentrations. KET and MIX did not influence the dry weight of the root at any concentration, while the remaining PhACs resulted in a weight reduction with the highest doses. Regarding shoot weight, all PhACs showed the same trend as that for the corresponding root dry weight, except for CBZ and NPX that did not show hormesis as observed for the roots.