Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Development of biological fingerprints
WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?Pharmaceuticals are biologically potent chemicals often ending up in our environment, especially in rivers and lakes. Some environmental effects of pharmaceuticals are relatively well known, such as the feminization of fish exposed to estrogens downstream from sewage treatment plants worldwide, and the almost total collapse of several populations of vultures on the Indian subcontinent. However, we do knot know the risks associated with most of the pharmaceuticals in use today, and the international guidelines for environmental risk assessments for drugs are not adequately addressing the problem. Solutions, in form of for example enhanced effluent treatment technologies, are underdevelopment, but new techniques or solutions should target the most problematic chemicals and the associated costs should be weighed against the benefits. HOW CAN THE PROJECT CONTRIBUTE TO A SOLUTION?
Methods for studying effects of pharmaceuticals on aquatic organisms are poorly developed. A powerful way to broadly screen for pharmacological effects of drugs on environmental organisms would be to study global gene, protein and metabolite changes with techniques such as microarrays, proteomics and NMR metabolomics. Within the field of medicine, these methods are today widely used in research and development, but at the onset of this project the application of genomics approaches to environmental species was just about to start. A competence on “ecotoxicogenomics” is needed in Sweden to face new environmental challenges and take advantage of the advances in genomics technologies. For example, studies of changes in global gene-transcription in fish can contribute to the identification of drugs or groups of drugs that are important to remove/reduce further from reaching the environment.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE RESULTS?
The development and value of ecotoxicogenomic competence in Sweden is not restricted to issues concerning pharmaceuticals in the environment. Possibilities to identify effects and link these to other chemicals and thereby direct mitigations are great in the future. Examples of stakeholders include regulatory authorities in Sweden and abroad, municipalities with responsibility for water treatment, pharmaceutical- and other chemical companies, county councils with the possibility to influence prescriptions patterns, environmental scientists and the general public with an interest to reduce the environmental impact of their consumption.
