Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Sources, Fate, Effects and Risks [Hardcover]

Following the success of the first edition, this pioneering study of pharmaceuticals in the environment has been updated and greatly extended. It includes the status of research on pharmaceuticals in soil, with attention to terrestrial and aquatic environments as well as new substance categories such as tetracylines and chinolones and the latest results concerning contamination of the environment and risk reduction.

The study of pharmaceuticals in the environment is a relatively new area of research. This up-to-date and greatly extended third edition addresses the most important issues in the field for the near future.

When the first green wave appeared in the mid and late 1960s, it was considered a f- sible task to solve pollution problems. The visible problems were mostly limited to point sources, and a comprehensive end of the pipe technology (= environmental technology) was available. It was even seriously discussed in the US that what was called zero d- charge could be attained by 1985. It became clear in the early 1970s that zero discharge would be too expensive, and that we should also rely on the self purification ability of ecosystems. That called for the development of environmental and ecological models to assess the self purifi- tion capacity of ecosystems and to set up emission standards, considering the re- tionship between impacts and effects in the ecosystems. This idea is illustrated in Fig. 0.1. A model is used to relate an emission to its effect on the ecosystem and its components. The relationship is applied to select a good solution to environmental problems by application of environmental technology.General Aspects.- Pharmaceuticals in the Environment  A Brief Summary.- Special Characteristics of Pharmaceuticals Related to Environmental Fate.- Sources, Occurrence and Fate.- Drug Production Facilities  An Overlooked Discharge Source for Pharmaceuticals to the Environment.- Substance Flows Associated withl£–