Occurrence and Fate of Human and Veterinary Medicinal Products

Medicinal products are a class of emerging environmental contaminants that are increasingly being used in human and veterinary medicine. These products are designed to have a specific mode of action, and many of them for some persistence in the human body. Up to now, only little is known about ecotoxicological effects of medicinal products on aquatic and terrestrial organisms including wildlife. There is thus a need to focus on sources and long-term exposure assessment regarding specific modes of action of medicinal products to better judge their effects on the environment and on the human body. Contamination of the environment with pharmaceuticals has received increased attention in recent years. Unlike agrochemicals, which are applied to fields in pulsed events, pharmaceuticals enter the environment more or less continuously. Many different pharmaceuticals are used in human medicine, and antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are used in veterinary medicine throughout the world. A number of pharmaceuticals have been detected in many environmental samples worldwide. Their occurrence has been reported in sewage treatment plant effluents, surface water, seawater, groundwater, soils, sediments plants and fish. In several countries of the EU, such as England, Germany, and Austria some pharmaceutical products are used in quantities of more than 100 Mg per year. Sources of human medicinal products include release from industrial production of pharmaceuticals, discharge of pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment plants into rivers, field-application of sewage sludge as organic fertilizer, and use of treated wastewater for irrigation. Sources of veterinary pharmaceuticals include medical treatment of livestock and medicines from surface-applied liquid or farmyard manure. Pharmaceuticals used in animals raised on pastures are excreted directly to the grassland. Pharmaceuticals entering the terrestrial environment can reach surface water and groundwater.