The Aquatic Environment and Pharmaceutical Products- A Review

Abstract

In recent decades, more and more pharmaceutical products exist in the nature. In many parts of the Globe, and especially close to urban areas, medicines have been presented in surface waters, groundwaters and soils. This is related to the growth in the utilisation of medicine and the development of analytical detection techniques in order determination of these traces of compounds in the environment. Pharmaceuticals reach the nature through the discharge of effluents from urban waste water treatment plants, the discharge of effluents from hospitals and drug factories, the using of sewage sludge in agriculture, the breeding of herbivorous animals, the treatment of pets, the spreading of manure and aquaculture, the improper disposal in landfills of unused pharmaceutical substances and contaminated waste. Researches showed that pharmaceutical products and residues are mainly present in water bodies and that they are partly eliminated by conventional wastewater treatment plants, which currently cannot effectively filter all pharmaceuticals.