Abstract

ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS: GLOBAL REGULATORY PERSPECTIVES

Manjeet Duggal, Vineet Mittal, Anurag Khatkar and Deepak kaushik*

Abstract

Medicines play an important role in the treatment and prevention of disease in humans and animals. During their manufacture and use, they may be released to the environment by a number of routes.[1-3] Even though the side effects on human and animal health have been widely documented, only recently have the potential environmental impacts of the manufacture and use of medicines been considered. Pharmaceuticals are introduced into the environment through various routes. Generally they enter the environment during manufacture or after use by both humans and animals. Potential pathways for human pharmaceuticals to enter the environment include[4-5]: a) Release from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, b) Disposal of unused pharmaceuticals by patients, hospitals, or distributors either to wastewater or to solid waste, c) Patient excretion of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites to wastewater.

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