Briefing: The environment impacts of active pharmaceutical ingredients

The impact of pharmaceuticals has been underestimated for many years, but the issue needs to be addressed just as much as the impact of other chemicals, such as pesticides, biocides or industrial chemicals which have a known impact on the environment and human health. The discovery of oestrogen in sewage effluents as a cause of the feminisation of fish in the late 1990s sparked increased interest in the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment. In 2007, the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU, 2007) recommended examining the possibility of including pharmaceuticals in the list of priority hazardous substances1 under the Water Framework Directive. However, in 2018 there is still no pharmaceutical included as a priority substance although it was already proposed by the Expert Group on Review (SG-R) of the Priority Substances in 2009. Alongside other identified relevant substances some pharmaceuticals are now included or proposed to be included on a Watch List to receive more monitoring data.

Briefing continues…