Assessing the exposure risk and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment on individuals and ecosystems

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing the exposure risk and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment on individuals and ecosystems

AU - Arnold, K.E.

AU - Boxall, A.B.A.

AU - Brown, A.R.

AU - Cuthbert, R.J.

AU - Gaw, S.

AU - Hutchinson, T.H.

AU - Jobling, S.

AU - Madden, J.C.

AU - Metcalfe, C.D.

AU - Naidoo, V.

AU - Shore, R.F.

AU - Smits, J.E.

AU - Taggart, M.A.

AU - Thompson, H.M.

N1 - © 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original authors and source are credited.

PY - 2013/6/26

Y1 - 2013/6/26

N2 - The use of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals is increasing. Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of research into potential environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. A Royal Society-supported seminar brought together experts from diverse scientific fields to discuss the risks posed by pharmaceuticals to wildlife. Recent analytical advances have revealed that pharmaceuticals are entering habitats via water, sewage, manure and animal carcases, and dispersing through food chains. Pharmaceuticals are designed to alter physiology at low doses and so can be particularly potent contaminants. The near extinction of Asian vultures following exposure to diclofenac is the key example where exposure to a pharmaceutical caused a population-level impact on non-target wildlife. However, more subtle changes to behaviour and physiology are rarely studied and poorly understood. Grand challenges for the future includedevelopingmore realistic exposure assessments forwildlife, assessingthe impacts ofmixtures ofpharmaceuticals in combination with otherenvironmental stressors andestimating the risks frompharmaceutical manufacturing and usage in developing countries. We concluded that an integration of diverse approaches is required to predict 'unexpected' risks; specifically, ecologically relevant, often long-termand non-lethal, consequences of pharmaceuticals in the environment for wildlife and ecosystems.

AB - The use of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals is increasing. Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of research into potential environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. A Royal Society-supported seminar brought together experts from diverse scientific fields to discuss the risks posed by pharmaceuticals to wildlife. Recent analytical advances have revealed that pharmaceuticals are entering habitats via water, sewage, manure and animal carcases, and dispersing through food chains. Pharmaceuticals are designed to alter physiology at low doses and so can be particularly potent contaminants. The near extinction of Asian vultures following exposure to diclofenac is the key example where exposure to a pharmaceutical caused a population-level impact on non-target wildlife. However, more subtle changes to behaviour and physiology are rarely studied and poorly understood. Grand challenges for the future includedevelopingmore realistic exposure assessments forwildlife, assessingthe impacts ofmixtures ofpharmaceuticals in combination with otherenvironmental stressors andestimating the risks frompharmaceutical manufacturing and usage in developing countries. We concluded that an integration of diverse approaches is required to predict 'unexpected' risks; specifically, ecologically relevant, often long-termand non-lethal, consequences of pharmaceuticals in the environment for wildlife and ecosystems.

KW - wildlife

KW - endocrine-disrupting chemicals

KW - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

KW - vultures

KW - risk prediction

KW - bioindicators

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880770845&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0492

DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0492

M3 - Article

C2 - 23804293

SN - 1744-9561

VL - 9

JO - Biology letters

JF - Biology letters

IS - 4

M1 - 20130492

ER -