Safe Discharge Ranges of Pharmaceuticals According Receiving Water Flows

Despite an increasing number of studies on the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in the environment, there are still many gaps in this topic. The special physicochemical properties of these chemicals bring more complex behavior in the aquatic environment. The main route for releasing these compounds in the environment is a waste water treatment plant (WWTP), which is particularly inefficient to remove these contaminants during conventional processing. Most methods for assessing the concentration of these substances in wastewater treatment plants are based on national consumption estimates. This can reasonably predict the overall emissions [1].

The presence of a particular drug in a water source varies from site to site depending on the type of drug and the extent to which it is released into the body of water. The main factors include the region's regulations, drugs being used or manufactured, and the size of the catchment population. The presence and concentration of a drug at a receiving source is the main route of drinking water, depending on the degree of dilution, natural decay and applied wastewater treatment.

Using ubiquitous drugs (prescription and over-the-counter drugs), drugs and their metabolites are relatively continuously discharged into the wastewater. In addition, drugs may be released into water sources from insufficiently managed manufacturing facilities or manufacturing facilities, primarily effluents from facilities related to generic drugs. With increasing sensitivity of analytical methods to measure these chemicals at very low concentrations, many studies have found wastewater, various water sources, and trace concentrations of drinking water. The concentrations of surface water, groundwater and partially treated water are usually less than 0.1 μg / l (or 100 ng / l) and the concentration of treated water is usually less than 0.05 μg / l (or 50 ng / l) . These studies show that trace concentrations of drugs are present in many sources of wastewater.

Some pharmaceutical companies and other industries require that only treated water be discharged. Depending on the geographical area, local agriculture and animal management regulations may exist in order to tackle the environmentally friendly animal waste and pesticide disposal. Many medical institutions have contracted with disposal companies to discard unused medicines in an environmentally friendly manner. Regional pharmacies and law enforcement agencies sponsor the region's "recycling medicine" program that allows consumers to deliver drugs safely and dispose according to relevant dangerous goods guidelines. We need to improve the water infrastructure to limit or eliminate the amount of substances released into the drinking water, but this will be very expensive