Reducing environmental risks of human pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals pose a range of risks to the environment. These include the spread of resistant bacteria by the release of antibiotics, the release of toxins into aquatic ecosystems, and the poisoning of wildlife through predation on livestock treated with pharmaceuticals.

Controls on pharmaceutical production in the European Union should be changed to guard against the spread of antibiotic resistance, protect wildlife and improve transparency in the industry, a team of scientists from Sweden and the U.K. recommends. The scientists propose 10 changes to the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pharmaceuticals.

A summary of the European Union proposals can be found here.

Posted by Tim Sandle