Pharmaceutical compounds in estuarine and coastal waters

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a group of emerging contaminants of environmental concern that have remained largely unrecognized as such until recent advances in trace-level analytical measurements (Cha et al., 2006; Erickson, 2002; Gros et al., 2006; Lindsey et al., 2001). There is growing concern over the occurrence and fate of PPCPs in the environment, with evidence of adverse effects in terrestrial and aquatic organisms, and also the potential of some antibiotics to induce resistance in naturally occurring bacterial strains (Hirsch et al., 1998). Over three thousand chemical substances are used in human and veterinary medicine (Ternes et al., 2004). Such pharmaceuticals include antiphlogistics/anti-inflammatory drugs, contraceptives, β-blockers, lipid regulators, tranquilizers, antiepileptics, and antibiotics (Ternes et al., 2004; Petrovic et al., 2005). Some typical pharmaceuticals classified by groups according to therapeutical effect and physicochemical properties are listed in Table 16.1. During and after treatment, humans and animals excrete a combination of intact and metabolized pharmaceuticals, many of which are generally soluble in water and have been discharged to the aquatic environment with little evaluation of possible risks or consequences to humans and the environment. In addition, chemicals that are components of personal care products number in the thousands, and are contained in skin care products, dental care products, soaps, sunscreen agents, and hair care products. Annual production exceeds 1 × 106 tonnes worldwide (e.g., >553,000 tonnes was produced in Germany alone in 1993; Daughton and Ternes, 1999). Included in this category are fragrances (e.g., nitro and polycyclic musks), UV blockers (e.g., methylbenzylidene camphor), and preservatives (e.g., parabens). Unlike pharmaceuticals, personal care products enter wastewater and the aquatic environment after regular use during showering or bathing. The environmental fates and effects of many cosmetic ingredients are poorly known, although considerable persistence and bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms have been reported (Daughton and Ternes, 1999; Kallenborn et al., 2001). In many aquatic environments, particularly in North America and Europe, pharmaceuticals, hormones, metabolites, biocides, musks, and flame retardants have been measured (Ternes, 1998; contents