2 Sources of Pharmaceuticals
Broadly speaking, the sources of pharmaceuticals can be categorized in two ways,
i.e., (1) point-based pharmaceutical-related ECs and (2) diffuse-based pharmaceutical-related ECs. The former type is further considered as a single identifiable source
that initiates from various location-based sources, such as domestic sewage sources,
domestic solid waste, pharmaceutical-related industrial sector waste effluents, biomedical (hospital) wastes (effluents and solid wastes), and WWTPs. Such pointbased sources are easy to identify and quantify from the specific location hotspots
and can be calculated via mathematical modeling [7, 15]. Moreover, the wastewater
effluent-based point sources are the main cause of environmental pollution and soil
zone and water matrix contamination. Unlike point-based source pollution, the exact
source location of the second category, i.e., diffuse-based source pollution, is hard to
identify, which generally occurs over a broader geographical scale [15]. Some main
examples of diffuse-based source pollution are the agricultural soil erosion/runoff,
urban runoff, and unrecognized leakage of waste from wastewater treatment systems
and plants [7, 16]. As it can be seen from Fig. 2, it shows the possible routes of
antibiotics, one type of pharmaceuticals, that how such polluting agents are
discharged from their sources and found their way to the receptor locations, such
as ground and surface water bodies [1]. In addition to this, the receptor locations/
hotspots, which are directly or indirectly influenced by the pharmaceutical-related
Fig. 2 Major point and nonpoint-based sources of antibiotics pollution and their possible transmission routes to groundwater and surface water bodies. Reprinted from Bilal et al. [1] Biocatalytic
degradation/redefining “removal” fate of pharmaceutically active compounds and antibiotics in the
aquatic environment. Science of The Total Environment, 691, 1190–1211, © 2019 Elsevier B.V.,
with permission from Elsevier
36
R. Parra-Saldivar et al.
Broadly speaking, the sources of pharmaceuticals can be categorized in two ways,
i.e., (1) point-based pharmaceutical-related ECs and (2) diffuse-based pharmaceutical-related ECs. The former type is further considered as a single identifiable source
that initiates from various location-based sources, such as domestic sewage sources,
domestic solid waste, pharmaceutical-related industrial sector waste effluents, biomedical (hospital) wastes (effluents and solid wastes), and WWTPs. Such pointbased sources are easy to identify and quantify from the specific location hotspots
and can be calculated via mathematical modeling [7, 15]. Moreover, the wastewater
effluent-based point sources are the main cause of environmental pollution and soil
zone and water matrix contamination. Unlike point-based source pollution, the exact
source location of the second category, i.e., diffuse-based source pollution, is hard to
identify, which generally occurs over a broader geographical scale [15]. Some main
examples of diffuse-based source pollution are the agricultural soil erosion/runoff,
urban runoff, and unrecognized leakage of waste from wastewater treatment systems
and plants [7, 16]. As it can be seen from Fig. 2, it shows the possible routes of
antibiotics, one type of pharmaceuticals, that how such polluting agents are
discharged from their sources and found their way to the receptor locations, such
as ground and surface water bodies [1]. In addition to this, the receptor locations/
hotspots, which are directly or indirectly influenced by the pharmaceutical-related
Fig. 2 Major point and nonpoint-based sources of antibiotics pollution and their possible transmission routes to groundwater and surface water bodies. Reprinted from Bilal et al. [1] Biocatalytic
degradation/redefining “removal” fate of pharmaceutically active compounds and antibiotics in the
aquatic environment. Science of The Total Environment, 691, 1190–1211, © 2019 Elsevier B.V.,
with permission from Elsevier
36
R. Parra-Saldivar et al.