Pharmaceuticals are highly bioactive compounds now known to be widespread environmental contaminants. However, research regarding exposure and possible effects in non-target higher vertebrate wildlife remains scarce. The fate and behaviour of most pharmaceuticals entering our environment via numerous pathways remain poorly characterized, and hence our conception and understanding of the risks posed to wild animals is equally constrained. The recent decimation of Asian vulture populations owing to a pharmaceutical (diclofenac) offers a notable example, because the exposure route (livestock carcasses) and the acute toxicity observed were completely unexpected. This case not only highlights the need for further research, but also the wider requirement for more considered and comprehensive ‘ecopharmacovigilance’. We discuss known and potential high risk sources and pathways in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems where pharmaceutical exposure in higher vertebrate wildlife, principally birds and mammals, may occur. We examine whether approaches taken within existing surveillance schemes (that commonly target established classes of persistent or bioaccumulative contaminants) and the risk assessment approaches currently used for pesticides are relevant to pharmaceuticals, and we highlight where new approaches may be required to assess pharmaceutical-related risk.

Exposure to residues of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac present in livestock carcasses has caused extensive declines in 3 Gyps vulture species across Asia. The carcass of a wild Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) was found in 2012 on an Andalucian (Spain) game hunting reserve and examined forensically. The bird had severe visceral gout, a finding consistent with Gyps vultures from Asia that have been poisoned by diclofenac. Liver and kidney samples from this Eurasian Griffon Vulture contained elevated flunixin (an NSAID) levels (median = 2.70 and 6.50 mg/kg, respectively). This is the first reported case of a wild vulture being exposed to and apparently killed by an NSAID outside Asia. It is also the first reported instance of mortality in the wild resulting from environmental exposure to an NSAID other than diclofenac.

Sodium pentobarbital is a veterinary drug commonly employed to euthanize different animal species humanely. Cases of secondary pentobarbital poisoning have been documented in scavenging wildlife, companion animals and captive carnivores. Since the extent of such poisonings remains mostly unknown, a review was undertaken to consolidate cases published, recorded, only locally reported or shared anecdotally. A questionnaire was distributed to veterinary surgery and wildlife rehabilitation centers, and zoos. About 125 cases affecting 432 animals across the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Germany and France were collated, with 76.8% obtained outside the published literature. Our findings support that pentobarbital poisoning affects a range of wild species (e.g., griffon vultures, canids) and companion animals (especially dogs and captive carnivores), and although a known source of toxicosis, pentobarbital-related poisonings continue to present day. Carcass disposal methods were considered in regard to associated incidents of secondary poisoning. Wild scavengers and companion animals were mainly affected after feeding on livestock carcasses that were insufficiently buried or left uncovered. Captive carnivores were accidentally poisoned after being fed pentobarbital-euthanized animals. Euthanized carcasses of stranded whales, provision of euthanized carcasses to dogs at hunt kennels, sourcing of meat from fisheries and laboratories, and use of barbiturates in baits to deliberately harm wildlife emerged as noteworthy sources of risk or exposure. The ongoing presence of pentobarbital residues in pet food as a threat to companion animals was incidentally considered. Additional recommendations for follow-up research, to increase awareness of this issue and prevent exposure, were suggested.

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The pervasiveness of pharmaceuticals such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the aquatic ecosystem through the discharge of wastewater, and their potential to biomagnify within this ecosystem, is now recognised. Residues of diclofenac and ibuprofen are currently being detected in surface waters and aquatic organisms throughout the UK and Europe. However, the levels of these residues in fish and other aquatic organisms, particularly lower trophic level prey species, have not yet been determined. While exposure to diclofenac is known to adversely affect fish, the degree to which other aquatic organisms are exposed and impacted through continuous ingestion of contaminated prey and interaction with the aquatic habitat remains unknown. The extent and effects of exposure to ibuprofen also remain largely unknown. As an exploratory subset of a broader study to investigate the detectability of diclofenac in alternative biological matrices, we analysed hair samples from Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra, n=28) for residues of the two NSAIDs using GC-MS. The otters were collected from six counties in England as part of an ongoing otter health monitoring project at the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre in Chacewater, UK. Diclofenac was qualitatively detected in five hair wash and 15 extract samples, and ibuprofen was determined to be present in at least two of the hair extract samples. Here, we provide preliminary evidence that otters are exposed to both NSAIDs and argue for further studies to identify residue loads in the otters and their prey to fully assess the pervasiveness of these compounds and potential risks of ongoing exposure to them.