Environmental pharmacology: source, impact and solution.

Abstract

Environmental pharmacology is the knowledge, study and the methods implemented for amalgamating the presence of pharmaceutical products and their metabolites in the environment. Pharmaceutical and house care products and their metabolites gain access to the environment through various means and affect the flora and fauna and modulate the ecosystem. The effect on wildlife, biofilms and human are being studied to gain knowledge of sources and causations. Potential risks of development of acute and chronic toxicity, carcinogenicity, interference with hormone and immune systems and drug resistance are of major concern. They may alter the genome and can affect future generations leaving them vulnerable to disease. There are regulations in good manufacturing practices and disposal which take into account the environmental risks but the knowledge for stakeholders and their implementation is very restricted. Ecopharmacology and ecopharmacovigilance are propagators of green healthcare. A strategy towards human health risk assessment and ecotoxicological hazard evaluation must be developed and risk minimization measures to be sought for and applied.