Analytical techniques in studies of the environmental fate of pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (original) (raw)
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Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment: what are the big questions
Environmental health perspectives, 2012
Modern sanitary practices result in large volumes of human waste, as well as domestic and industrial sewage, being collected and treated at common collection points, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In recognition of the growing use of sewage sludge as fertilizers and as soil amendments, and the scarcity of current data regarding the chemical constituents in sewage sludge, the United States National Research Council (NRC) in 2002 produced a report on sewage sludge. Among the NRC's recommendations was the need for investigating the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in sewage sludge. PPCPs are a diverse array of non-regulated contaminants that had not been studied in previous sewage sludge surveys but which are likely to be present. The focus of this paper will be to review the current analytical methodologies available for investigating whether pharmaceuticals are present in WWTPproduced sewage sludge, to summarize current regulatory practices regarding sewage sludge, and to report on the presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge.
Pharmaceutical Products in the Environment: Sources, Effects and Risks
Vitae, 2012
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products have become an environmental problem in recent years. Their physicochemical properties and persistence in the environment have allowed the distribution of degradates and parent compounds in water, soil, air and food. The widespread use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in hospitals, domestic residences, agricultural and industrial facilities has increased their discharge into the water bodies, and its toxicity has started to manifest in different biological components of ecosystems. The development of methods for sample treatment and instrumental analysis techniques has enabled the separation, identification and quantification of active ingredients and degradates with higher environmental impact, at concentrations of parts per billion or even parts per trillion. In addition, in vitro and in vivo assays have demonstrated their ecotoxicity in water, driving them to the classification of emerging organic pollutants, whose waste is indeterminate. Although their adverse effects are still unknown, they could have strong implications for global public health. This review presents the dynamics and the development of research over the past ten years about the presence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics, antihypertensives, antibiotics and other drugs in water bodies. Similarly, it described the impact of pharmaceutical activity, hospital services and domestic effluents on water quality.
Impact of Pharmaceutical Wastes on Human life and Environment:-A Review
own publication, 2018
Studies in many countries have demonstrated the presence of pharmaceutical products at trace levels in water streams and waste waters. The pharmaceutical compounds may enter the environment by different routes such as discharge of treated wastewater, seepage from landfills sites, sewer lines, runoff from animal wastes etc. Even though the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment at trace levels has not been clearly determined, the precautionary principle calls for action in the face of uncertainty. Even though risk from exposure to pharmaceuticals in drinking water is minimal, information about characterization of pharmaceuticals is still lacking. (Patneedi, 2015)
The occurrence of PPCPs in the environment has emerged as a serious health concern worldwide. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are the groups of compounds that are frequently termed emerging contaminants. Pharmaceuticals are defined as prescription, over the counter, human and veterinary curative drugs cast off to treat human and animal diseases. In contrast, personal care products (PCPs) are generally used to improve the quality of daily life (Boxall et al., 2012). Currently, about 4000À5000 pharmaceutical compounds are in use, which may be released into the environment, and under the present scenario, there is no legally permissible concentration of pharmaceutical compounds in the environment (Hernandez Leal et al., 2010). The consumption of pharmaceuticals is rising rapidly, and about 8À9 million kg of antibiotics were used in the year 2013 (Pennington et al., 2017). Pharmaceutical contaminants are continuously released into the aquatic environments through multiple pathways, including wastewater treatment plants, domestic wastewater, hospital discharge, improper disposal, and runoff of veterinary medicine (Daughton, 2003; Leung et al., 2012; Liu and Wong, 2013); therefore these compounds may be increased continuously into the environment. Since the last few decades, there have been increasing reports of the presence of PPCPs in the water bodies (water, sediments, and biota) at concentrations capable of causing harmful effects to the aquatic organisms. This becomes a foremost concern because PPCPs are widely used in human and veterinary medicine, resulting in their continuous release to the environment (Nikolaou et al., 2007). The existence of emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and PCPs, demands more attention toward this matter (Daughton and Ternes, 1999; Diaz-Cruz et al., 2003). Pharmaceutical contaminants and PCPs entering water and soils may either remain in their original form or may be metabolized into different forms (Kepp et al., 1997). These compounds were found to be in the range of ng/L to moderately high concentrations of μg/L (Ternes, 2007; Schwarzenbach et al., 2006). The higher levels of these compounds are reported in wastewater and hospital waste, from where they can reach the surrounding aquatic ecosystems. Pharmaceutical compounds from the industrial and domestic sectors are expelled out in their original form into sewage treatment plants (STPs) (Yadav et al., 2019), from these STPs they might reach into the aquatic environment. The various studies identified its impact on ecology, and the qualitative function of water even at a very low concentration. The toxicity of these pharmaceutical compounds may affect the ecological functionality of any ecosystems and ultimately some serious impacts on human life might be resulted (Hernandez Leal et al., 2010). The different PPCPs (Fig. 29.1) reported from the water and wastewater in different concentrations are discussed (Table 29.1). Most of the pharmaceutical compounds have a molecular mass less than 500 Da (Lipinski et al., 1997) and are composed of multifaceted chemical, which differs in structure, function, molecular weight, and form. These are
Occurrence and fate of human pharmaceuticals in the environment
Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology, 2010
Pharmaceuticals from a wide spectrum of therapeutic classes are used in human medicine worldwide. Pharmaceutically active compounds are defined as substances used for prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a disease and for restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions (Daughton and Ternes 1999). Pharmaceuticals include more than 4000 molecules with different physico-chemical and biological properties and distinct modes of biochemical action (Beausse 2004). Most medical substances are administrated orally. After administration, some drugs are metabolised, while others remain intact before being excreted. Therefore, a mixture of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites will enter municipal sewage and sewage treatment plants (STP; Kümmerer 2004).
Occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceutical substances in the environment- A review
Chemosphere, 1998
Medical substances (pharmaceuticals) arc a group of substances that until recently have been exposed to the environment with very little attention. The reason why they may be interesting as environmental micropollutants, is that medical substances are developed with the intention of performing a biological effect. Especially ant~iotics used as growth promoters, as feed additives in fish farms are anticipated to end up in the environment. Very little is known about the exposure routes of the medical substances to the environment. Only few investigations have reported findings of medical substances in other field samples than sediment or treated waste water samples. Several substances seem to be persistent in the environment. This paper outlines the different anticipated exposure routes to the environment, surnmarises the legislation on the subject and gives an outline of present knowledge of occurrence, fate and effect on both the aquatic and terrestrial environments of medical substances. Present knowledge does not reveal if regular therapeutic use may be the source of a substance carried by sewage effluent into the aquatic system, even though clofibrate, a lipid lowering agent, has been identified in ground and tap water samples from Berlin. Further research would be necessary to assess the environmental risk involved in exposing medical substances and metabolites to the environment.
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2010
Pollution from pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is now recognized as an environmental concern in many countries. This has led to the creation of an extensive area of research, including among others: their chemical identification and quantification; elucidation of transformation pathways when present in wastewatertreatment plants or in environmental matrices; assessment of their potential biological effects; and development and application of advanced treatment processes for their removal and/or mineralization. Pharmaceuticals are a unique category of pollutants, because of their special characteristics, and their behavior and fate cannot be simulated with other chemical organic contaminants. Over the last decade the scientific community has embraced research in this specific field and the outcome has been immense. This was facilitated by advances in chromatographic techniques and relevant biological assays. Despite this, a number of unanswered questions exist and still there is much room for development and work towards a more solid understanding of the actual consequences of the release of pharmaceuticals in the environment. This review tries to present part of the knowledge that is currently available with regard to the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in aquatic matrices, the progress made during the last several years on identification of such compounds down to trace levels, and of new, previously unidentified, pharmaceuticals such as illicit drugs, metabolites, and photo-products. It also tries to discuss the main recent findings in respect of the capacity of various treatment technologies to remove these contaminants and to highlight some of the adverse effects that may be related to their ubiquitous existence. Finally, socioeconomic measures that may be able to hinder the introduction of such compounds into the environment are briefly discussed.