Pharmaceutical drugs
Drug residues can damage the environment and the healthy bacteria in our bodies.
Sources of exposure
Medicines are present in the environment and thus enter water bodies, are ingested by wildlife and can therefore have a harmful effect on the ecosystem. Humans ingest them through drinking water, drug residues or food.
The concentrations and effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment depend on a combination of several variables, including the toxicity, degradation, persistence and mobility characteristics of the pharmaceutical, the source and timing of pollution, the technology, operation and efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, agricultural and veterinary practices, and environmental and exposure history.
Exposure of the environment to pharmaceuticals is expected to increase in the future. The use of medicines will increase because:
- The population is ageing and life expectancy is increasing;
- Economies grow so that age-related and chronic diseases can be treated sooner;
- Livestock and aquaculture are intensified, new medicines are developed;
- Climate change exacerbates existing diseases. Diseases such as cardiovascular disease and mental illness) as well as respiratory, water, vector and food-borne toxins and infections may increase.
Effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment on human health and freshwater ecosystems
Pharmaceutical residues can harm the environment and human and animal health, such as
- Negative effects on ecosystems, including mortality, and changes in physiology, behaviour and reproduction.
- Disruption of human hormonal balance
- The most likely risk associated with antibiotic residues in drinking water would be the promotion of the emergence and selection of resistant commensal bacteria inhabiting the human body, particularly the intestinal flora.
The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment has alarmed drinking water regulators, governments, water utilities and the public.
Certain medicines can have undesirable negative effects on ecosystems. These include mortality, as well as changes in physiology, behaviour and reproduction. Of particular concern are hormones, antibiotics, analgesics, antidepressants and cancer drugs, as well as antibiotics and parasiticides used in veterinary medicine.
Thus, fish can change their behaviour and become more vulnerable to predators. The following is a summary of the effects of medicines on human and ecosystem health.
Moreover, the substances in the environment are not isolated, but occur mixed and in combination with other pollutants. Thus, pharmaceuticals mixed with toxins are particularly dangerous.
Source:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiqg76oyfL2AhW1h_0HHbKzDegQFnoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oecd.org%2Fenvironment%2Fresources%2FPharmaceuticals-residues-in-freshwater-policy-highlights-preliminary-version.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2Z_f7IONSeDft9cDHkMS2O
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135420302359