PHARMACEUTICAL POLLUTION: A GRAVE CONCERN!!MUKTA SHARMA, SHAGUFTA JABIN AND MANOJ SHARMAAbstract Since the advent of human life the chemicals in the form of drugs and pharmaceuticals have been the life line. The advancements over centuries have led to discovery of pharmaceuticals from various sources like chemicals and from nature (plant, sea, animals). The innovation in screening methods introduces thousands of chemical entities for pharmaceutical use on daily basis. This has exponentially increased the presence of chemicals in the environment and have posed a concern across the globe. Humans, animals and plants are the major contagion. The metabolic profile of the pharmaceuticals has shown that many chemicals get disseminated and eliminated from the body in the unchanged form. These get continuously discharged in the ecosystem at high percentage. Some of the pharmaceuticals have long elimination half-life. Due to this, these get accumulated and get detected on reaching active levels. Eco toxicological studies have shown that there is an incomplete elimination of pharmaceuticals at sewage treatment plant. This has led to detection of varying concentration (high to low level) of drug chemicals in the environment. Due to the pollution of pharmaceuticals there is a pharmacological effect on microorganisms. Resistance get developed in bacteria and other microorganisms. |