This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The PREMIER project, a public-private European consortium of research organizations (like Radboud University) and international pharmaceutical companies, has launched a new database to support the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of human pharmaceuticals. The data is publicly accessible, free of charge.
The database was built with key user requirements in mind. The database increases the transparency of existing data and provides detailed study information, enabling stakeholders such as water managers, regulators, scientists and the pharmaceutical industry to identify relevant and reliable data for their purposes. This may include deriving safe concentration limits for human pharmaceutical residues in the environment.
PREMIER's work represents a considerable step forward in environmental risk assessment (ERA) of human pharmaceuticals. The presence of these pharmaceuticals in the environment is a well-recognized issue. Ad Ragas, PREMIER coordinator at Radboud University, says, "Patients excrete a substantial fraction of the medicines that they use.
The sewer system then takes these residues to the wastewater treatment plant, which can remove some, but typically not all, residues. As treated wastewater is discharged to receiving waters, some residues reach our surface waters. Here, these residues can harm aquatic life such as fish, water invertebrates and water plants." In 2006, the European Union implemented a new regulation requiring companies to perform an ERA on any new human pharmaceutical being introduced into the market.
These ERAs address key questions including how much of the pharmaceutical residue potentially reaches the environment and how to determine maximum safe levels for algae, water invertebrates and fish. However, these assessments have their limitations. Ragas says, "Performing toxicity tests is particularly expensive.
It can cost 200,000–500,000 euros per compound." However, the obligation to assess environmental risks does not apply to medicines on the European market before 2006. Ragas says, "This poses a considerable societal challenge, especially for the pharmaceutical industry. There are approximately 1,000–1,500 human pharmaceuticals on the market for which the environmental risks are poorly characterized.
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