The life-cycle of pharmaceuticals in the environment / Barrie M. Peake, Rhiannon Braund, Alfred Y.C. Tong, Louis A. Tremblay.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Cover; The Life-Cycle of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: Introduction; 1.1 Overview: Do pharmaceuticals pose a significant environmental risk?; 1.2 Hazardous substances; 1.3 Pathways to the environment: Life-cycle of pharmaceuticals; 1.4 Conclusions; References; Chapter 2: Prescribing practices; 2.1 Pharmaceuticals in legislative and healthcare systems; 2.1.1 Case study: the role of PHARMAC in New Zealand pharmaceutical expenditure; 2.2 The role of patient medical adherence.

2.2.1 Secondary nonadherence and conscientiousness2.2.2 Secondary nonadherence and medication-information seeking behavior; 2.2.3 "White coat adherence" syndrome; 2.2.4 Secondary nonadherence and adverse drug reactions, side effects, or efficacy; 2.2.5 Secondary nonadherence and complex dosing regimens; 2.3 Strategies to minimize medication nonadherence; 2.4 "Doctor, it just doesn't work!"-Pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmaceutical waste; 2.4.1 Action and behavior of drugs; 2.4.2 Patient medical history; 2.4.3 Concomitant medications; 2.4.4 Dose titrations.

2.5 "How much are those antibiotics? I want'em!"2.6 Accumulation of unused medications; 2.6.1 Return of unused medications to pharmacies and general medical practices; 2.7 Strategies to prevent accumulation of unused pharmaceuticals; References; Chapter 3: Disposal of unused medications; 3.1 Overview; 3.2 The origins of unused medication; 3.3 Medication disposal by households; 3.4 Attitudes toward medication disposal; 3.4.1 Influence of dosage form design; 3.4.2 Medication disposal methods and environmental awareness; 3.4.3 Medication disposal and advice received.

3.4.4 Medication disposal practices and demographics3.4.5 Availability of formalized protocols for unused medication disposal; 3.5 Feasibility of take-back programmes for unused medication; 3.6 Management of pharmaceutical waste at take-back depots; 3.7 The "best" method for the disposal of unused medications?; 3.8 Conclusions; References; Chapter 4: Detection and presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment; 4.1 Overview; 4.2 Environmental detection of pharmaceuticals; 4.3 Sample collection; 4.3.1 To silanize or not to silanize-that is the sample container.

4.3.2 Modes and frequency of sampling4.3.3 Sample storage conditions and preservation techniques; 4.3.4 Sample filtration; 4.4 Sample extraction; 4.4.1 Solid-phase extraction; 4.4.2 Liquid-liquid extraction; 4.5 Chromatographic separation of environmental sample extracts; 4.6 Mass spectrometric detection and quantitation; 4.6.1 Forms of output from LC-MS/MS; 4.6.2 Identification and quantification of an analyte; 4.6.3 Limits of detection; 4.6.4 Extraction recovery efficiency and matrix effect; 4.7 Environmental concentrations of some common pharmaceuticals; 4.8 Summary; References.

The Life-Cycle of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment identifies pathways of entry of pharmaceuticals into the environment, beginning with the role of global prescribing and disposal practices. The book then discusses typical levels of common pharmaceuticals and how they can be determined in natural waters such as raw and treated sewage, and in potable water. In addition, sections examine methods currently available to degrade pharmaceuticals in natural waters and some of their ecotoxicological impacts, along with future considerations and the growing concept of product stewardship. Encompasses the full lifecycle of common pharmaceuticals, from prescription and dispensing practices to their occurrence in a range of different types of natural waters and their environmental impact Explores the role of the healthcare system and its affect on users Beneficial for environmental engineers involved in the design and operation of appropriate degradation technologies of the pharmaceutical prescription and disposal practices.

English.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed November 25, 2015).