Flows of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Originating from Health Care Practices on a Local, Regional, and Nationwide Level in Germany: Is Hospital Effluent Treatment an Effective Approach for Risk Reduction?
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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In: Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, Vol. 8, No. 5-6, 12.2008, p. 457-471.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Flows of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Originating from Health Care Practices on a Local, Regional, and Nationwide Level in Germany
T2 - Is Hospital Effluent Treatment an Effective Approach for Risk Reduction?
AU - Schuster, Armin
AU - Hädrich, Carsten
AU - Kümmerer, Klaus
PY - 2008/12
Y1 - 2008/12
N2 - Pharmaceuticals are designed to be bioactive and therefore are among the most important chemical compounds manufactured. In recent years pharmaceuticals have been detected in a range of environment compartments, with concerns raised that they may impose a risk to both humans and environmental organisms. To support informed management of any associated risks, knowledge about their substance flows is indispensable. However, little is known about sources and attributable substance flows with regard to the use of human pharmaceuticals. Often data available on a national level are used to judge local or regional situations and to calculate expected concentrations. In this paper, computations on the use of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of drugs used in human medicine at the local, regional and national levels were conducted. Different data sources were used and raw-data were scaled up- or downwards and compared. Results of this analysis indicated that hospitals are, by far, minor sources of pharmaceuticals to the aquatic environment in comparison to non-point emissions from households. Differences in flows at the local, regional and national scales are also identified. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
AB - Pharmaceuticals are designed to be bioactive and therefore are among the most important chemical compounds manufactured. In recent years pharmaceuticals have been detected in a range of environment compartments, with concerns raised that they may impose a risk to both humans and environmental organisms. To support informed management of any associated risks, knowledge about their substance flows is indispensable. However, little is known about sources and attributable substance flows with regard to the use of human pharmaceuticals. Often data available on a national level are used to judge local or regional situations and to calculate expected concentrations. In this paper, computations on the use of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of drugs used in human medicine at the local, regional and national levels were conducted. Different data sources were used and raw-data were scaled up- or downwards and compared. Results of this analysis indicated that hospitals are, by far, minor sources of pharmaceuticals to the aquatic environment in comparison to non-point emissions from households. Differences in flows at the local, regional and national scales are also identified. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
KW - Hospital
KW - Household
KW - Medicine
KW - Pharmaceutical
KW - Source
KW - Substance flow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=55149095715&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/2d12a713-aaa4-3b01-a1ef-c50c61441e1d/
U2 - 10.1007/s11267-008-9183-9
DO - 10.1007/s11267-008-9183-9
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 8
SP - 457
EP - 471
JO - Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus
JF - Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus
SN - 1567-7230
IS - 5-6
ER -