Publication details
Pharmaceuticals as potential toxic compounds in the environment
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2004 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Central and Eastern European Environmental Health Conference |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | pharmaceuticals; environment; effects |
| Description | In recent years a consideration is given to the issue of contamination of the environment by pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Medical drugs are designed to possess a biological activity; they could therefore be important as environmental pollutants in terms of their effects and their fate. Some of the compounds are cancerogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxic (CMR compounds). There are no procedures to assess the risks connected with their release into the environment. Human and veterinary drugs could be released to the environment during manufacturing process, disposal of unused or expired products and mainly in excreta. Especially veterinary antibiotics used as growth promoters and feed additives in fish farms are anticipated to end up in the environment. They can enter soils and sediments, where they can accumulate and induce adverse effects in terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Pharmaceuticals have been detected in wastewater, surface water, ground water and drinking water. In the environment, pharmaceuticals and their metabolites can be degraded by microorganisms or they can persist unchanged for a long time. Only little information is available on the effects of the pharmaceuticals in the aquatic and terrestrial environment. Effects of some compounds on organisms have been found not only at high concentrations, but also at low concentrations in chronic tests, e.g. towards Daphnia, algae and bacteria. Some effects were shown also in tests with Vibrio fisheri, Artemia salina, Lemna minor etc. Toxicity of individual compounds has been investigated, but mixtures of drugs might produce synergistic effects. The largest risk will be represented by compounds that enter to the environment in large quantities, e.g. veterinary antibiotics. Also the following groups of drugs may deserve special attention: cytostatic agents, antibiotics and disinfectants, chlorophenols and chlorine-releasing reagents, organic X-ray contrast media, pharmaceuticals containing heavy metals such as some disinfectants and cytostatics; due to their specific effect, e.g. antibiotics can cause bacterial resistance. Generally there is very little information about occurrence, fate and affects of pharmaceuticals in the environment and it is very important to continue research of this topic. |