New European database to support environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals
The PREMIER project, a public-private European consortium of research organizations (like Radboud University) and international pharmaceutical companies, has launched a new database to support the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of human pharmaceuticals. The data is publicly accessible, free of charge. The database was built with key user requirements in mind.
The PREMIER project, a collaboration between research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, has developed a new European database to aid in the environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals. This database, accessible to anyone free of charge, compiles data on more than 450 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), including information from previous European risk assessments.
The PREMIER database enhances transparency by storing detailed study information, enabling stakeholders like water managers, regulators, scientists, and the pharmaceutical industry to easily identify relevant and reliable data. This could lead to the establishment of safe concentration limits for pharmaceutical residues in the environment.
According to Ad Ragas, the PREMIER coordinator at Radboud University, "Patients excrete a substantial fraction of the medicines they use, which then passes through the sewer system and wastewater treatment plants, eventually reaching surface waters where these residues can harm aquatic life."
While the European Union mandated environmental risk assessments for new human pharmaceuticals since 2006, earlier medicines remain poorly characterized in terms of environmental risk. To address this, the PREMIER consortium focused on identifying 25 old and potentially harmful pharmaceuticals with limited data, conducting extensive environmental risk assessments on these compounds, and finding that they posed limited environmental risks.
The database's launch marks a significant advancement in ERA of human pharmaceuticals. It not only benefits companies, government institutions, and scientists but also water managers in determining safe concentration limits for pharmaceuticals in surface waters. Additionally, the healthcare sector is increasingly considering environmental impacts when prescribing medicines, making this database an invaluable tool in prioritizing and reducing the environmental risks associated with these substances.
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