Cited by 57Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental ImpactsEnvironmental Chemistry and AnalysisEnvironmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology

Significance of Metabolites in the Environmental Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals Consumed by Human

Han, Eun Jeong, Lee, Dong Soo·2017·Science of The Total Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the significance of metabolites to the ERA of human pharmaceuticals. The predicted exposure concentrations (PECs) in surface water were estimated for a total of 24 selected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their metabolites using a life cycle based emission estimation model combined with a multimedia fate model with Monte-Carlo calculations. With the eco-toxicity data, the hazard quotients (HQs) of the metabolites were compared with those of individual parents alone. The results showed that PEC or toxicity or both of the metabolites was predicted to be higher than that of their parent APIs, which resulted in a total of 18 metabolites (from 12 parents) that have greater HQs than their parents. This result clearly demonstrated that some metabolites may potentially pose greater risk than their parent APIs in the water environment. Therefore, significance of metabolites should be carefully evaluated for monitoring strategy, priority setting, and scoping of the environmental risk assessment of APIs. The method used in the present work may serve as a pragmatic approach for the purpose of preliminary screening or priority setting of environmental risk posed by both APIs and their metabolites.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.044

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Authors
Han, E. J., & Lee, D. S.
Affiliations
Seoul National University (KR)
Corresponding author
Lee, Dong Soo
Venue
Science of The Total Environment
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-08
Volume
592
Pages
600-607
ISSN
0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2595300508
Cited by
57
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4
FWCI
1.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • KEITI
  • Korea Ministry of Environment (2014001370001)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
Keywords
drug metabolites, active pharmaceutical ingredients, environmental risk assessment, hazard quotient, surface water contamination, multimedia fate modeling, Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis, ecotoxicity, priority setting, water pollution monitoring
MeSH terms
Drug Residues, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Environmental Monitoring, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Risk Assessment, Ecotoxicology

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