A Data Based Perspective on the Environmental Risk Assessment of Human Pharmaceuticals II — Aquatic Risk Characterisation

Hindsight rather than foresight: reality versus the EU draft guideline on pharmaceuticals in the environment

“…In view of the fact that estrogenic compounds are found in STP effluents, it should not be surprising that an evergrowing list of other pharmaceuticals used in human medicine and their metabolites have been reported to be present in surface waters including salbutamol, paracetamol, acetylsalicylic acid, chloramphenicol and diazepam, to name but a few [18,19]. This plethora of reports presumably reflects an increase in urbanization, a decrease in quality of sewage treatment and an improvement in analytical methods with lower detection limits.…”

“…A further consideration is the observation that several substances, although predicted to be present in the effluent of STPs at extremely high percentages of the initial influent, have not been found in the aquatic environment [18,19,25]. This observation is presumably a result of difficulties in current analysis methods, but the possibility that unpredictable interactions and reactions take place in the STPs themselves, resulting in a far higher degree of degradation than predicted, should not be ignored.…”

Sources, factors, mechanisms and possible solutions to pollutants in marine ecosystems

“…Among the observed effects, there are: reduction in growth, sperm count, egg production, and reproduction; sexual disruption; inhibition of settlement of larvae; disruption in mitochondrial function, intestine, and immune systems; impaired spermatogenesis; disruption in energy metabolism; cytotoxicity in liver, kidney, and gills; oxidative stress in membrane cells; changes in appetite (Webb, 2001;Jobling et al, 2002Jobling et al, , 2006Cleuvers, 2003Cleuvers, , 2004Thorpe et al, 2003;Schwaiger et al, 2004;Triebskorn et al, 2004;Hoeger et al, 2005;Caminada et al, 2006;Crane et al, 2006;Fent et al, 2006;Filby et al, 2007;Flippin et al, 2007;Johnston et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2007;Owen et al, 2007;Runnalls et al, 2007;Shved et al, 2008;Christen et al, 2010;Corcoran et al, 2010;Nassef et al, 2010;Santos et al, 2010;Cuthbert et al, 2011). As far as ecosystems are concerned, effects may include a decline in biodiversity at different trophic levels such as bacteria, algae, zooplankton, fish, crustaceans, and invertebrates.…”

Hot spot pollutants: pharmaceuticals in the environment

“…This apparent lack of scientific interest in pharmaceuticals as contaminants of the aquatic environment is somewhat puzzling. Common OTC drugs such as paracetamol or aspirin are sold in quantities comparable to high production volume (HPV) materials -close to or exceeding 1000 tons/annum in EU countries such as the UK or Germany (Webb, 2001;Ternes, 2001a). Total use of human prescription drugs in such countries will exceed this (Webb, 2001).…”

“…Concurrently, there have been various regulatory developments in the USA and the EU relating to requirements for risk assessment of new actives as part of their registration process. The risk assessment of existing pharmaceuticals has also been attempted (Halling-Sørenson et al, 1998;StuerLauridsen et al, 2000;Webb, 2001).…”