Pharmaceuticals in Environment: A review on its effect

摘要

Pharmaceuticals consumed in enormous quantities worldwide are a great concern. Administered pharmaceuticals are excreted by humans, as a parent compound or metabolite, with urine (mainly) and faeces. The pharmaceutical industrial effluent after incomplete processing also contributes to substantial amount of the pharmaceuticals in the surface and ground water.Pharmaceuticals includes a broad class of chemicals, ranging from over-the-counter and prescription drugs, diagnostic agents, nutraceuticals (e.g., vitamins) etc. Sewage treatment facilities due to their inefficiency and the chemical's structure of the compounds, are not always effective in removing the active chemical from waste-water. As a result, pharmaceuticals find their way into the aquatic environment, where they directly affect organisms and can be incorporated into food chains. Antibiotics are turning up in the environment in substantial quantities due to better detection methods and a growing population.