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A Data-based Perspective on the Environmental Risk Assessment of Human Pharmaceuticals I — Collation of Available Ecotoxicity Data

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Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

Abstract

There is a growing literature relating to observations of human pharmaceuticals in the environment. Discussions about the environmental consequences of the presence of such compounds have taken place in the general absence of a systematic analysis of the potential risk. This can partly be attributed to the lack of public domain information relating to the ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals. The lack of such an analysis means that to date, decisions concerning environmental risk assessment criteria and/or regulatory thresholds have been somewhat arbitrary or based upon inappropriate groups of industrial chemicals such as pesticides. This study attempts to address that deficiency and collates examples of data relating to the ecotoxicity of existing human pharmaceuticals. The intention is to provide perspective that will prove useful during the further development of assessment criteria. The database may also prove useful in the context of the risk assessment of individual substances.

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Authors
  1. S. F. Webb
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Umweltmedizin und Krankenhaushygiene, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Hugstetter Straße 55, D-79106, Freiburg i. Br., Germany

    Klaus Kümmerer

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Webb, S.F. (2001). A Data-based Perspective on the Environmental Risk Assessment of Human Pharmaceuticals I — Collation of Available Ecotoxicity Data. In: Kümmerer, K. (eds) Pharmaceuticals in the Environment. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04634-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04634-0_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-04636-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04634-0

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