Pharmaceutical Formulations And The Treatment Of Human And Animal Disease Conditions

To prevent water pollution, chemicals themselves also have to be regulated more strictly. In Australia, only chemicals on the NICNAS Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS) can be imported or manufactured for industrial use("Chemicals…”).. Moreover, new chemicals have to be tested by four major Commonwealth schemes of registration and assessment ("Chemicals…”). On the other hand, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) that acts as our chemical regulators has mandated safety testing for only a small percentage of the 85,000 industrial chemicals available for use today (Urbina,

Chemicals harm the growth of plants and animals, chemicals can lead animals to death. Many of the water animals

A conceptual framework was developed that incorporated characteristics of chemicals, agricultural landscapes, and aquatic ecosystems that interact to influence exposure. From this framework, the workgroups designed a tiered system for the risk assessment process in which the assessment progresses from a deterministic assessment to probabilistic assessments of increasing complexity. Each tier includes several experimental and analytical options that reduce uncertainty and provide more complete descriptions of the aquatic environment (Environmental Proection Agency, 2012).

It is easy person to point their finger at big industrial and chemical plants and blame them for the cause of so much pollution in our water. When taking a closer look, those same people pointing the finger are equally contributing to the pollution of our water supply and are also to blame. This person could be a friend, family member, classmate, or even you. Even if people do not think that they have a part in this, most do. A variety of data has shown traces of pharmaceuticals used by every day humans in our water. As well as pharmaceuticals there is a presence of chemical contaminants, mainly pesticides that are causing harm to our environment and wildlife. Even humans can be affected by such contamination in the water supply, and

Bioassays, Daphnia magna, were used to monitor water for the presence of toxic compounds in various water samples, including samples 1 mile upstream from the Fletcher’s Paint dump site and one mile downstream. A bioassay is a living organism that serves as a detector for toxins. It is hypothesized that if the Daphnia mortality rate when exposed to water samples from various locations is higher in greater solutions, then their deaths' indicate that the water contains toxic compounds due to the harmful toxins that originated from human pollution. This is the same hypothesis for the Fletcher’s Paint experiment.

Pharmaceuticals are defined as prescription, over the counter and veterinary therapeutic drugs used to prevent or treat human and animal diseases, while personal care products (PCPs) are used mainly to improve the quality of daily life [16]. Over the past few years, there has been growing awareness of the unintentional presence of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in various compartments of the aquatic environment at concentrations capable of causing detrimental effects to the aquatic organisms. This has become a major concern because PPCPs are extensively and increasingly used in human and veterinary medicine, resulting in their continuous release to the environment.

There is a correlation that the number of marine systems that become exposed to both treated and untreated wastewater discharges increases, as there are concurrent increases in population around coastal areas. The environmental quality of receiving waters may be compromised due to thousands of different chemicals released via sewage inputs. Over the last decade there has been a growing interest on a specific chemical known as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Antimicrobials, fragrances, therapeutic drugs, some polymers, and surfactants are all categorized as PPCPs. In developed countries, most wastewater are treated in order to ensure that the majority of the chemicals, or a very significant portion of the chemicals, are removed

The Great Lakes, though fairly clean, are contaminated with some deadly chemicals that have slipped by human filtration into the lakes. These emerging chemicals have been determined to pose some health risk to humans and surrounding ecosystems and are used by society, but are unregulated or inadequately regulated retardants (Miller-Branovacki, Lindsay, "Water Resources and Urban Waste Water (Week #8)"). More specifically an emerging contaminant is one which is not historically widely distributed, nor a concern, however are now persistent and bioaccumulative making them a concern for the environment. The three major categories for emerging contaminants are; endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), Pharmaceutical and personal care

Often, toxic substances are being drained into the air, waterways, and undergrounds wells. According to the report by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 60 million pounds of deadly chemicals are produced by industries in Florida. Notably, Florida’s water has been suffering mercury contamination until the state’s department of migration issues a circular regularly for regulations of eating freshwater fish in the region (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In fact, such metals emanate from coal combustion’s emissions which run into water bodies. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides utilized by government and homeowners pollute the environment (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Indeed, all chemicals released into the atmosphere find themselves in rivers.

Since this is my fist toxicology course, I found it interesting to learn the variety of pathways that toxicants access to enter the human body and aquatic organisms. Even more so, the way our cells respond to the intake of such toxicants. In addition, learning the way aquatic organisms are impacted by toxicants in stream and stream sediments. Furthermore, I can use this knowledge in a career and also for my own curiosity to investigate my surroundings or spread awareness.

Environmentalists all over the nation highly discourage flushing prescription drugs down the toilet in fear of contaminating the water supply. Although the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) states on their website that flushing certain medications down the toilet is the best option in fear of children, or young adults getting into the potentially harmful prescription drugs… Environmentalists say otherwise. In fact, the Ohio Environmental Council warns that there are many studies supporting their argument that flushing the medication is harmful to the water supply. Studies state that the amount of prescription drugs being found in waterways is creating issues such as the reproductive health of different fish even completely feminizing male fish.

Concentrations of pharmaceuticals and acesulfame detected in Sydney estuary water were generally lower than for other marine/estuary waters and considerably lower than typical waste water (dilution factors up to 1000) reported in the literature, how- ever propranolol, fluoxetine, iopromide and carbamazepine were at similar levels to other marine locations. Generally low concen- trations of pharmaceuticals in Sydney estuary water are expected as none of these chemicals should be dispersed to this water

Everyday pesticides are dumped into our environment. Over time most of the pesticides make thier way to a source of water, whether it's groundwater or a body of water. According to Lewis Regenstein author of "America the Poisoned" two thirds of the nation's lakes have serious pollution problems. 80% of 3,700 urban lakes in the United States are destroyed. More than 94 million residents could use these lakes for recreational use or for a source of water (169). Cincinnati's drinking water contains about 700 chemicals. 90% of them did not exist 20 years ago. The main sources of most of these chemical pollutants are municipal sewage, industrial discharges, and runoffs from farming areas. There are also several other chemicals in America's drinking water. Although hazardous, there are approximately 60 chemicals that are mixed into water in the process of treating it. Unlike rivers or lakes, underground supplies are not processed at treatment plants before being used by humans. "More than one hundred million of our citizens depend in a whole or in part on underground as sources of drinking water (Beck qtd. in Regenstein 172). Once groundwater becomes contaminated, there is usually no way to clean it.

Doctors prescribe medicine for a wide variety of illnesses. Even if you aren’t sick, you may be getting small doses of someone’s medicine through our water supply. Though no studies have shown negative impacts are humans, the stress of these prescription drugs on aquatic life show it is time to act! These drugs can cause a wide variety of problems when they get into the environment and the water.

“A common misconception is that all man-made chemicals are harmful, and all natural chemicals are good for us. However, many natural chemicals are just as harmful to human health, if not more so” (Lorch). Dorea Reeser provides a different perspective to counteract the harmful effects of manmade chemicals. Dorea Reeser upholds a Ph. D. in environmental chemistry at the University of Toronto. She researches and studies the chemical reactions at water surfaces, and how the chemical and physical properties influence these reactions and the release of important trace gases into the troposphere.