Abstract
Human pharmaceuticals enter the environment mainly through regular domestic use. Their presence in the aquatic environment has been recorded in the range ng L−1 to μg L−1. Knowledge of the risk associated with the use of pharmaceuticals involves establishing the ratio between predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) and predicted no effect concentration (PNECs). The European Union (EMEA) and USA (FDA) have implemented two-tiered strategies for environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pharmaceuticals. Advances in analytical techniques have allowed us to measure pharmaceuticals in the environmental compartment and the refinement of ERA. On the other hand, for calculation of PNECs, acute and chronic toxicity tests are employed; a critical analysis of the available information was carried out, indicating that acute toxicity was only likely for spills, although an exception to this general behavior is shown by endocrine-active substances. Studies including mixtures of pharmaceuticals are not common in the study of pharmaceutical effects. Only for a limited number of drugs, are the ecotoxicity data available adequate for risk assessment. Selection of model compounds with a priori knowledge about the target biological compounds, and the selection of species, life stages and endpoints would be helpful. New technologies such as proteomics and genomics could be valuable resources to be included in the framework of pharmaceutical environmental risk assessment.
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Blasco, J., DelValls, A. (2008). Impact of Emergent Contaminants in the Environment: Environmental Risk Assessment. In: Barceló, D., Petrovic, M. (eds) Emerging Contaminants from Industrial and Municipal Waste. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 5S/1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_5_107
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/698_5_107
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