Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Current Knowledge and Need Assessment to Reduce Presence and Impact - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184339314X ISBN 13: 9781843393146

Publisher: Iwa Pub, 2010

Synopsis

About 4000 medical compounds are being used in the drugs applied today. It is estimated that worldwide consumption of active compounds amounts to some 100,000 tons or more per year. Consequently, there is a need to highlight the most important questions and issues related to presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: current knowledge and need assessment to reduce presence and impact brings together results of previous and on-going EU projects with published data from both governmental sources and scientific literature and manufacturers’ data on production and usage of pharmaceuticals. This book puts together the current knowledge and emphasises questions that deserve attention such as: What is the spectrum of most relevant pharmaceutical products (PPs) for the aquatic environment? Which indicators for supporting environmental managers, health authorities? What is the efficiency of urban and industrial sewage treatment plants over a year? What is the fate and behaviour of PPs in sewage treatment plants? If receiving waters are used for potable water supplies, does the presence of these compounds represent a potential hazard to human health? Could we solve some problems by environmental or cleaner technologies? What regulatory approaches, incentives, prevention actions can be implemented in order to lower PPs concentration in the environment? Does a European practical guidance can be developed? Can the impacts of PPs on the environment be reduced through the use of eco-pharmaco-stewardship approaches including the use of clean synthesis, classification and labelling, and better communication of methods of 'good practice'? How can we better monitor the environmental impact of a pharmaceutical once it has received a marketing authorisation?

About this title

Book Description

Residues from pharmaceuticals can be released into the environment through a number of routes during their manufacture, use and disposal. This book explores where these residues can be found in the environment, how they break down, and how this all impacts on wildlife and human health. It is an important reference for researchers working in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as for environmentalists and policy makers wanting to better understand the impacts of pharmaceuticals on the environment.

From the Back Cover

Medicines play an important role in the treatment and prevention of disease in humans and animals, but residues from these medicines can be released into the environment through a number of routes during their manufacture, use and disposal. It is only recently that the potential environmental impacts of this exposure to pharmaceuticals are being considered.

The book explores where pharmaceutical residues can be found, e.g. in surface waters, drinking water, sediments and the marine environment; the sources of these residues, from manufacture through to disposal of unused medicines; how these residues break down; and how this all impacts on wildlife and human health.

In reviewing the current position and examining further possible impacts, this book is an important reference for researchers working in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as for environmentalists, policy makers and students on pharmacy and environmental science courses wanting to better understand the impacts of pharmaceuticals on the environment.

Edition details

• Publisher: Iwa Pub
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184339314X
• ISBN 13: 9781843393146
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198
• Editor: Roig Benoit