Pharmaceutical residues in the environment: A review

Pharmaceuticals constitute a newly recognized class of environmental poisons because of their biological activity, pseudo-persistence, and extensive use in both human and animal health. Pharmaceuticals have the potential to be toxic even at low persistence rates; these qualities, among others are what cause bioaccumulation and negative effects in both aquatic and terrestrial settings. Human pharmaceutical pollution is typically caused by trash from hospitals, homes, cities, and industries. The lack of adequately sensitive and accurate analytical techniques for detecting distinct medicines present in trace levels in the complicated matrices is a significant constraint of such investigations.