The global growth of the pharmaceutical market and industry has shown a tremendous increase in the last few decades. During last five years, these industries have offered total revenues of USD $ 534.8 billion. It is reported (world Pharmaceutical market 2007) that North America is the biggest Pharmaceutical market that constitute 49% of the global market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. In accordance with the IMS report, there was an 8.3% increase in sales of prescribed drugs in 2006 in USA alone. It is also reported that India’s USD$3.1 billion Pharmaceutical industry is growing at the rate of 14% every year.
The Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products are an assemblage of numerous chemical compounds used vividly in most human endeavors. These products imply to any product used by people for personal health or cosmic reasons or used by agri-business to increase the growth. PPCP (Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products) include a multiple collection of thousands of chemical substances, including prescription and over-the-counter therapeutic drugs, veterinary drugs, fragrances and cosmetics. These are considered to be the pollutants agents present everywhere in our environment. The products used globally by individuals and domestic animals generally end up in the surrounding environment causing serious havoc at microgram levels.
The compounds used for pharmaceutical production are biologically active drugs such as hormones, antibiotics, lipid regulations and analgesics. These chemical compounds pose potential danger when they are discharged into the environment because they are basically containing low biodegradability. Some investigations have predicted that it is almost impossible to get rid of most chemical compounds of entering the drinking water system during ground water recharge.
Exogenous agents that interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding action or elimination of the natural hormones of the body are endocrine disrupters. They are responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis, reproduction, development and behavior. The mechanism of action of these compounds lead to carcinogenic, reproductive or developmental effects by interfering with the various hormonal pathways. Phenols are byproducts of widely used industrial detergents and surfactants. Various kinds including alkyl phenol ethoxycarboxylate have been found in persisting through tertiary treatment. This alkylphenolic compounds have been found in rivers and tap water. They one found to cause endocrine disruption and alteration in reproductive physiology in fish.
A variety of sources are there that lead to the disposal of these pharmaceutical & Personal Care Products into the environment. The sources can be specified as point and non- point sources.
A point source is a definite point from where the pollution enters into the environment such as discharge of effluents from water treatment plant to water bodies. The non- point sources do not have a definite point to entry such as atmospheric disposition. One of the major sources of origin of pharmaceutical and personal care products in the environment is the large use of drugs and other medications by people as well as pets kept by them. Chemicals most commonly detected in the surface water of USA, Canada, UK and Germany mostly include Caffeine, Estrogen derivatives, antibiotics, antibacterial, fragrances, detergents and pharmaceuticals. Metabolic excretion, sweat and vomits; excretion exacerbated by disease and slow dissolving medications; disposal of unused outdated medications to sewage system are also some examples to pharmaceutical and personal care products originating from direct human and pet activities .
Another major cause of release of the chemical products is due to modern agricultural and industrial mechanisms. There is a direct release of drugs from medicated domestic animals into open waters via bathing, washing and swimming; discharge of industrial manufacturing units; disposal of landfills via domestic refuse, medical wastes.
The impact of the pharmaceutical and personal care products is severe. Some researchers throw light on the slow but gradual alterations in essential physiologic functions of animals, such as reproduction, development, general metabolism and endocrine function. This will create an imbalance in the relevant population parameters as well as in the ultimate functioning of the ecosystem. These products cause diverse impact in the form of cancer, reproductive toxicity, development toxicity, immune system effects, acute toxicity and neurotoxicity. Clear information is still not available for the definite conclusion in this regard. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has taken up various initiatives to broaden the research activities in order to determine how exposure to mix affects physiological function beyond reproduction.
. According to the United States Geological Survey, various organic waste water contaminants such as pesticides, industrial compounds and pharmaceutical are in river systems, sometimes at levels that have been demonstrated to be endocrine disrupting even for individual compounds. In these studies the sampling was done from stream and river systems downstream from urban or intense agricultural area.
Although posing a severe challenge for human as well as animal and water lives, these pharmaceutical & personal Care products are so widely used in day-to-day life that it is impossible to survive without the practical use of the same. So there should be awareness among the community to make the proper use of the pharmaceutical products for making the globe a better living place.
