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Chapter 17 Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Drugged fish?

2005; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1873-0140(05)80020-7

2543-1145

Vance L. Trudeau, Chris D. Metcalfe, Caroline Mimeault, Thomas W. Moon,

Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology

This chapter reviews the potential impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment and mentions that there are other sources of pharmaceuticals in the environment such as veterinary drugs or feed additives for livestock. Prescription and nonprescription drugs are produced and used by human populations in quantities that exceed hundreds of metric tonnes annually. Most of these drugs or their metabolites are excreted or discarded into urban wastewaters and eventually make their way to municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). The most direct route of pharmaceuticals and metabolites to aquatic environments is through discharges of STP effluents into streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and marine coastal zones. There are two types of drugs: (1) fibrate drugs and (2) neuroactive drugs. Fibrate drugs are a class of lipid regulatory drugs. They are used to regulate blood lipid and cholesterol levels. They include drugs such as gemfibrozil, ciprofibrate, clofibrate, bezafibrate, and fenofibrate. Neuroactive drugs act on the central nervous system. Potential biological effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment briefly review the mode of action of the drugs as well as the physiological effects and the potential effects on fish following environmental exposure.