INDUSTRY TALK
The challenge of managing pharmaceuticals in water Residues of pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface water and groundwater across the globe. A report released by the OECD calls for a better understanding of the effects, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns.
P
harmaceuticals are an important
Those of greatest concern include
rises with ageing populations, advances in
element of medical and veterinary
hormones, painkillers and antidepressants.
healthcare, rising meat and fish production,
practice, and their beneficial
Concerns over rising antibiotic content in
and as emerging countries increasingly
effects on human and animal
wastewater fuelling the spread of drug-
administer antibiotics to livestock.
health, food production and economic
resistant microbes have been raised at
welfare are widely acknowledged. Yet an
G20 level.
PROBLEMATIC FOR AFRICA’S WATER
area lacking in common understanding is
Pharmaceutical residues can enter the
what happens when pharmaceuticals are
environment during the manufacture, use
30 pharmaceuticals have been detected
constantly discharged into the environment,
and disposal of medicines. When humans
in Nigeria and South Africa’s surface water,
through manufacturing, consumption and
and animals ingest medicines, between 30
groundwater, tap water, and/or drinking
excretion, and the improper disposal of unused or expired products. A new OECD report entitled Pharmaceutical Residues in Freshwater: Hazards and Policy Responses warns that too little is being done to prevent pharmaceutical residues seeping into soil, water supplies, freshwater ecosystems and the food
and 90 percent of the ingredients are
DID YOU KNOW?
excreted as active substances into the sewage system or
Pharma manufacturing facilities the environment. Some have been shown to release APIs medicines are thrown into nearby streams and can be important pollution hotspots in away unused and end the areas in which they operate.1 Extremely high pharmaceutical up in landfill, or they concentrations, in the order of are disposed of in the mg/L have been detected in some industrial effluents and bathroom and end up in recipient streams in India, China, the USA, Korea sewer systems. and Israel.2
chain, and to assess the potential
In the US, an estimated one
third of the four billion medicines
The OECD report shows that between 11 and
water. In the Ivory Coast and Kenya, the number of pharmaceuticals detected is between four and 10, and in Zimbabwe and Ghana it’s between one and three. The following recommendations to governments are made in the report: • increase monitoring and reporting of pharmaceutical residues in the environment • consider environmental risks in the authorisation of pharmaceuticals • provide incentives to design
risks. The author of the report, Hannah
prescribed each year ends up as waste.
Leckie, OECD environmental directorate,
Conventional wastewater treatment
says pharma residues, such as hormones,
plants are not designed to remove
antidepressants and antibiotics, have been
pharmaceuticals, and water resources are
the environment, by using public
detected in surface water and groundwater
not systematically monitored for residues.
procurement to demand high standards
across the globe. High levels of these
Because pharmaceuticals are
pharmaceuticals that do not accumulate in or harm the environment • reduce pharmaceuticals entering
from manufacturers, or with ‘take-back’
residues have been found downstream
intentionally designed to interact with
of pharmaceutical manufacturing plants,
living organisms at low doses, even low
and conventional wastewater treatment
concentrations in the environment can have
• raise awareness among the
plants are not designed to remove
unintended, negative impacts on freshwater
public, doctors and vets to reduce
pharmaceuticals in wastewater. Veterinary
ecosystems. For example, active substances
pharmaceutical residues from agriculture
in oral contraceptives have caused the
and aquaculture can enter water bodies
feminisation of fish and amphibians;
without any treatment.
psychiatric drugs, such as fluoxetine, alter
The full report and policy highlights are
The report also reveals the vast majority
systems to return unused or expired medicines for safe disposal
excessive consumption • upgrade wastewater treatment plants with technology to remove pharmaceuticals.
fish behaviour making them less risk-averse
available for free download on the OECD
of the roughly 2 000 active pharmaceutical
and vulnerable to predators; and the
website. There is also a webinar on YouTube
ingredients (APIs) currently used in human
over-use and discharge of antibiotics to
featuring Leckie and Bob Diderich of the
and veterinary pharma products have
water bodies exacerbates the problem of
Environment Directorate, who present the
never been evaluated for environmental
antimicrobial resistance. The latter has been
key findings of the report, and how policy
risks. Several dozen new APIs are typically
declared by the World Health Organization
makers and other stakeholders can take
approved for use each year.
as an urgent, global health crisis projected
action to reduce the risks. Visit https://bit.
to cause more deaths globally than cancer
ly/2qFUUk3 to watch the webinar. •
A CHALLENGE TO MANAGE A study cited in the report estimates
by 2050. Unless adequate measures are taken
10 percent of pharmaceuticals have the
to manage the risks, the situation is set
potential to cause environmental harm.
to worsen as the use of pharmaceuticals
REFERENCES 1. Weber et al., 2014[3]; Larsson, de Pedro and Paxeus, 2007[19] 2. Larsson, 2014[12]
P C Africa | QUARTER 4 2019 |
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