Pharmaceuticals in Water System

Pharmaceutical synthetic drugs are predominant sources of therapeutic treatment around the globe and modern practice of medicine, medical treatment without these drugs is unimaginable.

The increasing usage of prescribed pharmaceuticals estimates that, by end of 2020, the global need would reach 4500 billion doses. Some of the widely used drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are detected in various water resources and found to affect the quality of aquatic life species. These include the presence of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, psychotropic including antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, anxiolytic agents, cardiovascular drugs, antidiabetic agents, steroids, and their byproducts and metabolites. The presence of these pharmaceuticals is highly elicited in the aquatic environment due to its unchanged form of the drug being discharged, about 10% of carbamazepine (an antidepressant) is been detected in wastewater treatment plant. The physicochemical properties such as lower log Po/w could be one of the reasons for its bioaccumulation in the aquatic environment. The other factors that increase the pharmaceuticals as pollutants in the environment are its higher rate of consumption due to its wider availability and usage of over-the-counter drugs (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory etc.). The marine species affected due to these pharmaceuticals include cyanobacteria and blue- green algae by antibiotics ; plants, invertebrates, and fish affected with residues of diclofenac, ibuprofen (NSAIDs); green algae and zebra mussels affected with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used as antidepressants. Approximately 90% of marine vertebrates and invertebrates are detected with propranolol, cardiovascular agent; fish, crustaceans, snails, mussels, rotifers, aquatic plant, hydrae and algae contaminated with metformin, an antidiabetic agent and species of fish such as zebrafish, pipefish, seawater fish, sand gobies are detected with the presence of steroidal drugs. The concentration of pharmaceuticals in marine species ranges from a few ng/L to several ug/L.