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This paper looks at clinical studies of Pharmaceutical drugs and Personal Care Pollutants in our Water Supplies.
1. Emerging chemicals of concern:
pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in Asia, with
particular reference to Southern China.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2005 Sep;50(9):913-20.
Richardson BJ, Lam PK, Martin M.
Department of Biology and Chemistry, Research Centre for Coastal
Pollution and Conservation, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee
Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. bhbrucer@cityu.edu.hk
In many western nations, pharmaceuticals and personal care products
(PPCPs) are present in aquatic environments, raising concerns amongst
chemists and toxicologists regarding their potential environmental
fates and effects. However, there are few published reports of PPCPs in
environmental samples from Southeast Asia.
Whilst the environmental toxicology of PPCPs is not well understood,
several effects cause concern, such as feminisation or masculinisation
by hormones and xenoestrogens, synergistic toxicity from complex
mixtures at low concentrations, potential creation of resistant strains
in natural bacterial populations, and other potential concerns for
human health. Whilst both the presence and distributions of PPCPs in
Southeast Asia and China are not well known, observations elsewhere
suggest that they may be important contaminants in the aquatic
environment. This is particularly emphasised by the enormous production
and widespread use of many PPCPs in China, particularly antibiotics
utilised in human and veterinary medicine applications. This Viewpoint
presents a general description of the issue, characterises the current
status of PPCP analyses and reporting in the Southeast Asian region,
and proposes a recommended approach for monitoring and chemical
assessment of one group of PPCPs, antibiotics, in the aquatic
environments of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.
PMID: 16038943 [PubMed - in process]
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2. Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in biosolids.
J Environ Qual. 2005 Jan-Feb;34(1):91-104.
Xia K, Bhandari A, Das K, Pillar G.
Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, 3111 Miller Plant Sciences
Building, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. kxia@uga.edu
Each year, large quantities of pharmaceuticals and personal care
products (PPCPs) are used worldwide. Once conveyed to wastewater
treatment plants, PPCPs can remain unchanged or undergo partial or
complete transformation during wastewater treatment processes before
discharge into the environment via effluent and biosolids for land
application. Biosolids can be a major sink for some PPCPs. Previous
investigations have indicated that land application of biosolids may be
a potential important route through which PPCPs enter the environment.
However, no information is available on exactly how closely the
concentrations of PPCPs in the environmental media are related to the
land application of PPCP-containing biosolids. This paper reviews
currently available information on the occurrence of PPCPs in
biosolids, methods of analysis, the potential fate of PPCPs in
biosolids-applied soils, and composting as a potential means for
removal of PPCPs from biosolids.
Publication Types:
* Review
PMID: 15647538 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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3. Occurrence of pharmaceutical contaminants and screening of treatment alternatives for southeastern Louisiana.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Dec;948:80-9.
Boyd GR, Grimm DA.
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA. gboyd@tulane.edu
Recent studies conducted in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Brazil,
Canada, the United States, and elsewhere indicate that low-level
concentrations of pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (PPCPs)
and their metabolites may be widespread contaminants in our aquatic
environment. The persistence of pharmaceutical contaminants has been
attributed to (1) human consumption of drugs and subsequent discharges
from sewage treatment plants, and (2) veterinary use of drugs and
nonpoint discharges from agricultural runoff. Contamination of water
resources by these compounds, particularly endocrine disrupting
chemicals (EDCs), is emerging as an international environmental
concern. The long-term effects of continuous, low-level exposure to
PPCPs is not well understood. Preliminary data for raw water samples
collected from the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana,
are summarized. Three PPCP compounds (clofibric acid, naproxen, and
estrone) were analyzed using solid-phase extraction, derivatization,
and GC/MS. Batch experiments also were conducted to determine
equilibrium capacity of activated carbon for clofibric acid.
Preliminary results indicate the occurrence of the selected PPCP
contaminants in raw water samples at or near method-detection limits.
For batch equilibrium experiments, preliminary results indicate that
activated carbon potentially can be used to remove clofibric acid from
water. More research is needed to develop rapid and reliable methods
for PPCP analysis and to determine the effectiveness of treatment
processes for removal of PPCP contaminants in water.
PMID: 11795398 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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4. Ecotoxicology of human pharmaceuticals.
1: Aquat Toxicol. 2005 Oct 26; [Epub ahead of print]
Fent K, Weston AA, Caminada D.
University of Applied Sciences Basel, Institute of Environmental
Technology, St. Jakobs-Strasse 84, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland; Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Department of Environmental
Sciences, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Low levels of human medicines (pharmaceuticals) have been
detected in many countries in sewage treatment plant (STP) effluents,
surface waters, seawaters, groundwater and some drinking waters.
For some pharmaceuticals effects on aquatic organisms have been
investigated in acute toxicity assays. The chronic toxicity and
potential subtle effects are only marginally known, however. Here, we
critically review the current knowledge about human pharmaceuticals in
the environment and address several key questions.
What kind of pharmaceuticals and what concentrations occur in the aquatic environment?
What is the fate in surface water and in STP?
What are the modes of action of these compounds in humans and are there similar targets in lower animals?
What acute and chronic ecotoxicological effects may be elicited by pharmaceuticals and by mixtures?
What are the effect concentrations and how do they relate to environmental levels?
Our review shows that only very little is known about long-term
effects of pharmaceuticals to aquatic organisms, in particular with
respect to biological targets. For most human medicines analyzed, acute
effects to aquatic organisms are unlikely, except for spills. For
investigated pharmaceuticals chronic lowest observed effect
concentrations (LOEC) in standard laboratory organisms are about two
orders of magnitude higher than maximal concentrations in STP
effluents. For diclofenac, the LOEC for fish toxicity was in the range
of wastewater concentrations, whereas the LOEC of propranolol and
fluoxetine for zooplankton and benthic organisms were near to maximal
measured STP effluent concentrations. In surface water, concentrations
are lower and so are the environmental risks. However, targeted
ecotoxicological studies are lacking almost entirely and such
investigations are needed focusing on subtle environmental effects.
This will allow better and comprehensive risk assessments of
pharmaceuticals in the future.
PMID: 16257063 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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