Chapter 4 - Impact of Pharmaceuticals and Their Metabolites on Environment

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals are contaminants of rising concern and have been identified in water in trace concentrations around the world. Most of these contaminants are not under constant quality check and thus are a great threat to the aquatic world as well as for the surface dwellers when consumed through drinking water. Many cytotoxic drugs from many developed countries as well as developing countries are continuously released into the water from industries, hospitals and sometimes excreted unchanged by urine and feces or modified as metabolites. These conventionally are directed to the wastewater treatment plants. But often these methods are incomplete and revert back of those pharmaceuticals into the environment. Many different Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are recognized in ambient waters and drinking water in different countries. Few drugs have health-based guidance values and are exposed in the ambient environment through drinking water for the individuals. The basic theme of this chapter is to give a brief history and an overview of many different pharmaceutical ingredients, their uses in our daily life and their adverse effects on human and other living organisms.