https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2015.026
Published: Kem. Ind. 65 (9-10) (2016) 471–482
Paper reference number: KUI-26/2015
Paper type: Review
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Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

M. Periša Biošić and S. Babić

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals are used for the purpose of preventing or treating diseases in humans and animals, as well as growth promoters in veterinary medicine. The consequence of using pharmaceuticals is their presence in the environment. Once they reach the environment, many processes occur, such as abiotic processes (hydrolysis and photolysis) and biotic processes (biodegradation by bacteria and fungi) or sorption to soil and sediment. These processes lead to the reduction of pharmaceuticals concentration in the environment. Furthermore, the mentioned processes could result in different products that are more or less stable and toxic than the parent compound. Numerous papers have reported the levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment, while little is still known about their behaviour and fate in the environment. Therefore, in this paper, all the mentioned processes are described and discussed.

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Keywords

pharmaceuticals in the environment, photolysis, hydrolysis, biodegradation, sorption