Pharmaceuticals in the Environment - Sources, Fate, and Effects

proper and effective treatment and prevention of air and water emissions resulting from chemical production are in place in developed countries. However, less developed countries often lack the same standard of regulations. This results 

Excretion from treated animals is yet another source of APIs in the environment. The application of manure as fertilizer is the main source of such veterinary pharmaceuticals into the environment. These APIs can be washed into the surface water by rainfall either after the application of manure or after the direct application of pharmaceuticals on to animals (e.g. anti-parasites). 

It has been found that even with advanced sewage treatment technologies, not all compounds are removed by sorption or (bio)degradation [4, 19-26]. If removal by 

This is called second-order persistence or pseudo-persistence [45, 46]. 

the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment is a widely accepted fact. Population growth and climate change continue to place great pressure on water 

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