+443308187254Perspective Article - Journal of Research in Environmental Science and Toxicology ( 2024) Volume 13, Issue 1
Received: 11-Jan-2024, Manuscript No. JREST-24-124952; Editor assigned: 16-Jan-2024, Pre QC No. JREST-24-124952 (PQ); Reviewed: 30-Jan-2024, QC No. JREST-24-124952; Revised: 07-Feb-2024, Manuscript No. JREST-24-124952 (R); Published: 15-Feb-2024, DOI: 10.14303/2315-5698.2024.72
Risk assessment and prevention efforts remain confined to individual instances, despite progress in our comprehension of the causes, outcomes and impacts of the disease. Research is being done on the worldwide issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment, including veterinary and human use.
Risk assessment and prevention efforts remain confined to individual cases, despite progress in our comprehension of its origins, outcomes and impacts. As a result, in the review that was presented, these acts were distilled and divided into the subsequent groups:
•Pharmaceutical design, synthesis and manufacture.
•Prescription, sales and waste management.
•Source control using sophisticated technologies.
The pyramid of needs was used to suggest a ranking based on the term of consequences because it was found that the total number of proposed actions was rather high. The benefits of using contemporary technology and taking actions early in the pharmaceutical life cycle or "acting upstream," as opposed to later interventions like pipeline closures.
Pharmaceutical development and manufacture
There will be a rise in the use of pharmaceuticals for a number of reasons, including the global trend of population ageing and life extension, economic growth, more intensive animal husbandry and climate change that makes pre-existing diseases worse. Two instances of diseases include dengue fever (Cavicchioli) and malaria (2019).
The creation of environmentally friendly drugs is predicated on the idea that, through molecular structural manipulation, pharmaceuticals can be made to more readily dissolve and pose less of a risk to aquatic life upon excretion. The active ingredients or the mode of action shouldn't be changed by this improvement while it is being stored on the shelf.
Enzymes, peptides, vaccinations, antibodies, phage therapies, immunological stimulation, prebiotics, probiotics, essential oils and herbal medicines are a few substitutes for antibiotics. Finding antibiotic substitutes is more important than ever in this era of antibiotic resistance. One approach is to synthesize antibiotics tailored to individual microorganisms. Furthermore, expiration dates need to be reassessed. The majority of producers intentionally reduces these or uses a standard value of one year. The long-term environmental sustainability of therapeutic substances presents another difficulty. Such actions have led to pharmaceutical waste and the expenses incurred by the patient.
Prescription and sales of pharmaceuticals
Medication sales and prescriptions are rising annually and will do so in the upcoming years. Even though the country's population grew by 21% over the previous ten years, the number of prescriptions rose by 85%. More over 50% of people regularly take prescription medications, usually from multiple doctors. Medication is often given or selected inappropriately when the pathogen is detected at a low level. It is common knowledge that patients who take medications "just in case" develop a condition known as "just in case syndrome," which is the consequence of pressure from both patients and specialists. A prime example would be a shortage of antibiotics. It is taken for influenza even though it is a viral illness.
Treating this infection with antibiotics doesn't work. Prescription monitoring is particularly important for elderly patients who regularly take the same active component from many physicians. Enhancing the prescription of pharmaceuticals is a vital objective for the current healthcare system. More importantly, the best method to lessen the use of pharmaceuticals in the environment is to avoid disease. For better decision making, a review of demographic patterns and trend prediction in this domain would be helpful.
The following activities can help increase pharmaceutical sales:
•Small scale trial and installment dispensing is afeasible option. This is especially important for drugslike aspirin that have a short shelf life.
•Enhancements should be made to the appropriatepackaging, including the visibility of the expirationdates and the dosage. Additionally, information onthe significance of returning old medications tocertain locations most often pharmacies should beincluded and highlighted on the information bookletthat is attached to the box.
•An online system that is accessible and electronic forpatient treatment histories is necessary to preventsituations where various professionals prescribe thesame active ingredient under different names or withdistinct administration modalities (e.g., tablets andsyrup).
•Using a method to return any leftover prescriptiondrugs to the pharmacist. Moreover, this stops thismedication from being used in the future without firstseeing a doctor.
•The standardization of pharmacological names forproducts with identical active ingredients and forpatients who purchase them without understandingwhat's in them.
Agricultural waste water
Even if a direct negative impact from this concentration is unlikely, a shift in the bacterial population was observed when animal waste continued to flow. Antibiotics are essential for treating humans and cattle, but more nations are currently outlawing their use. A few steps need to be taken right now in order to lessen the likelihood that drugs could endanger the health of both humans and wildlife because of antibiotic resistance.
The idea links mutually interwoven interdependence to the logical outcome of action effect equality for humans and the environment. Reducing the impact of not just native chemicals but also metabolites and transformation products generated during advanced treatment can be achieved by working upstream in the pharmaceutical life cycle.