Although pharmaceuticals occur in aquatic environments in small concentrations they are agents of a subtle but significant change in the contaminated ecossystems. A large number of studies clearly indicate that the chronic and life cycle exposure of non-target organisms to pharmaceuticals has a direct impact in reproduction, feeding habits, social behaviours, capacity to adapt to other environmental stressors, etc...
The last few years of research have shown that the presence of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments is generalized, both in industrialized and developing countries. How do they enter the environment and why is their presence object of concern?
Possible solutions
The main source of contamination
A large amount of the ingested active susbtance of a pharmaceutical is excreted unaltered (up to 90% in some cases) through urine and feces of humans and animals. These pharmaceutically active substances end up in the Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) and are resistant to the conventional treatment methods applied in those facilities. In this way, the treated (but still contamined) effluents function as the main input of pharmaceuticals into the aquatic systems.
Consequences for humans
The effects on humans are less clear than the impacts in aquatic ecossystems and non-target organisms. Yet, considering that pharmaceuticals are present in drinking water and in the biological tissues of animals that are part of our food habits, toxic effects resulting from long-term exposure cannot be excluded, in particular in the case of risk groups (as children and pregnant women).
Consequences for non-target organisms
Why is this a problem?
All classes of drugs have already been found in the environment
Painkillers
Antibiotics
Antidepressants
Anxiolytics
Hormones
Antihistaminics
...
Considering that pharmaceuticals consumption is expected to rise in the next decades, in order to decrease their levels in aquatic systems the efficiency of the available treatment technologies must be improved. Adsorption is an interesting possibility which makes use of adsorbent materials (such as activated carbons) to remove contaminants from water. Activated carbons are, yet, too expensive to enable a large scale application of this methodology. This is the main field of action of the RemPharm project.