Environmental Science: Pollution Prevention Report - University Name

This report delves into the critical issue of pollution prevention, with a specific focus on pharmaceuticals in the environment (PIE). It examines the societal and political concerns surrounding PIE, highlighting human excretion and improper disposal as primary sources of contamination. The report details the adverse impacts of PIE on aquatic ecosystems and human health, including the disruption of the food chain and the development of diseases. It compares pollution prevention strategies in the United States and Europe, noting the role of regulatory bodies and industry practices. Recommendations are provided for safe medicine disposal, emphasizing the need for stricter regulations, increased awareness, and the involvement of stakeholders such as drug companies and regulatory agencies. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of reforming pharmaceutical disposal controls and protecting the environment.

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Running head: POLLUTION PREVENTION
Pollution Prevention
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

POLLUTION PREVENTION
Pharmaceuticals In Invironment (PIE) have increasingly become a topic of serious
concern to the communities across the globe, including US, due to their potential to cause
significant harm to the aquatic life. a rich pool of literature throws light on the actual
environmental impacts that are widely attributed to the presence of pharmaceuticals in
environment, mainly, natural water streams. There has been constant evidences that these
major traces of pharmaceuticals in the environment are due to human excretion and improper
disposal practices (Daughton, 2016). The present paper outlines the societal and political
concerns related to the issue, the sources and impacts of PIE when discharged into streams.
The discussion also includes the recommendations and programs in the United States for
disposing of unused medicines and these are compared to those in Europe. Lastly,
recommendations are provided on how medicines are to be disposed off in a safe manner and
the concerned stakeholders are highlighted.
According to Kümmerer (2016), there are different ways by which traces of
pharmaceutical products make their way into the environment, the most significant one being
excretion of humans. The researcher highlight that about 50-90% of the active ingredients
present in any oral dose of a medicine is ecreted out and the metabolites remain active in the
environment. Inadequate access to toilets is the prime area of concern as a certain section of
the population might be excreting in the open. The lack of social awareness regarding this
aspect draws attention of concerned stakeholders. On the political front, the leaders have been
accused of not implementing adequate measures to regulate disposal guidelines and not
taking up strict actions against those violating the law. The communication between the
environmentalists and the general public is not fostered by the political parties and therefore
the commn mass is left out from major decision making processes. Lack of socioeconomic-
impact assessments share the challenge to a considerable extent. Lastly, any arising

POLLUTION PREVENTION
controversies regarding waste-treatment facilities are not adequaltely resolved by the political
systems.
Research indicates that the sources of pharmaceutical residuals being discharged into
the streams are multi-dimensional. It is indicated that consumers, hospitals and drug
companies are, in some form or the other, responsible for adding up to the issue. The poor
disposal of the different drugs has a primitive contribution. Individuals fail to clean out the
medicines in a proper manner and instead throw the left-over drugs down the toilet. Expired
and unused drugs are not accepted by durg companies, compelling individuals to dispose
them off, often in an inappropriate manner. It is also a common problem that hospitals have
regular protocol of flushing millions of pounds of medications that are unused every year.
Water contamination is increased crucially through this. The impacts of water contamination
are also far-reaching. Humans are not the only ones who get affected by the contamination.
The aquatic ecosystem, both plants and animals, are equally impacted in a negative manner.
Drugs for high blood pressure, allergies and high cholesterol lead to death of the water
animals. The recent discovery suggests that drug residues lead to stopping of cells from
reproducing in aquatic animals. The disruption of the food chain is of chief concern as a large
population of fishes die. Humans are affected in the way that they develop diseases, mainly
food poisoning after drinking the contaminated water or poisoned sea animals, like fish.
Lastly, the ecosystem is severely destroyed by such form of pollution (Williams, et al., 2016).
Countries across the continents are taking up distinct measures to combat the issue of
PIE. In the US, all international suppliers are governed with the help of local regulatory
bodies and industry purchasers are holding programmes that strive to educate the concerned
groups to stick to the regulations. Some have developed and implemented voluntary company
standards in alignment with local legislation. Research is being carried out to understand

POLLUTION PREVENTION
novel approaches that can improve the situation further. In Europe, the pharmaceutical
industry is known to understand the importance of disposal practices and this fact is reflected
in the recent policies adopted by all EFPIA members. The industry is working with different
third party manufacturers so that they adhere to similar environmental policy principles,
making it the recent focus for the industry. The point of difference between the two regions is
that unlike in US, there are divided opinions in the European countries regarding what needs
to be done at the earliest.
Since it has been revealed that the drug companies play an important role in
contributing to PIE, EPA must motivate regulatory agencies to step up and consider safe
disposal strategies. Regulations are to be put in place that would impose heavy penalties on
drug companies not abiding by the guidelines set. It is further recommended that the
government sets up guidelines on water drug contamination, so the people develop the idea of
the extent to which cocktail of medications in water is dangerous (Milmo, 2014).
From the paper, it can be concluded that PIE is gaining the attention of regulators and
governments in recent times. Investors who are socially responsible must come forward to
increase awareness of the population on the same matter. At the heart of the efforts, there
must be reforms of existing controls of pharmaceutical disposal and protective measures of
the environment.

POLLUTION PREVENTION
References
Daughton, C. G., (2016). Pharmaceuticals and the Environment (PiE): Evolution and impact
of the published literature revealed by bibliometric analysis. Science of the Total
Environment, 562, 391-426.
Kümmerer, K., (2016). Presence, Fate and Risks of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment.
In Green and Sustainable Medicinal Chemistry, 63-72.
Milmo, S., (2014). Regulating the Environmental Impact of Pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical
Technology, 38(6).
Williams, M., Backhaus, T., Bowe, C., Choi, K., Connors, K., Hickmann, S., Hunter, W.,
Kookana, R., Marfil‐Vega, R. and Verslycke, T., (2016). Pharmaceuticals in the
environment: An introduction to the ET&C special issue. Environmental toxicology
and chemistry, 35(4), 763-766.