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7.3 Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products
These substances maintain their chemical characteristics and vary in a wide range as
they generally contain a non-polar centre with a polar functional group. The products
formed on the transformations of these substances remain persistently in environment as reported by Fent and his team in the year 2006 and Clarke and Smith in the
year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011; Caminada et al. 2006). In 2003, Diaz-Cruz and
team reported that the environmental existence of Fenofibrate and Clofibrate which
are the metabolite of blood lipid is twenty one years (Silvia D´ ıaz-Cruz et al. 2003).
Additionally, this medicinal waste carries unknown and dangerous side effects on
various species, mostly after a long period of exposure. It also initiates resistance
to bacteria by releasing antibiotics into the surroundings. Till now, the overall and
detailed impact of these metabolites among the organisms in the environment is
unpredictable as reported by Hernando and team in the year 2011 (Hernando et al.
2011). Pharmaceutical and personal care products and their transformed products,
i.e. metabolites, are collectively known to as effluent-derived contaminants which
are available mostly in the wastewater. To name a few, some of the structural categories of antibiotics are macrolides, sulphonamides, tetracyclines, cephalosporins,
penicillin, fluoroquinolones and nitroimidazoles as reported by Clarke and Smith
and Jury and team in the year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011; Jury et al. 2011). All the
pharmaceuticals, their metabolite, personal care products and antibiotics have the
property to remain persistent, and only a part of it is degraded during the treatment
process and hence makes its way into the drinking water supplies, thereby causing
harmful effect on environment and health as reported by Clarke and Smith in the
year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011).
7.4 Steroids
Synthetic steroids and natural endrogenous like mestranol and estrone, respectively,
are primarily released from wastewater treatment plant, and excretion of human body
enters into the ecosystem (Thomaidis et al. 2012). This results in harmful effect on
the environment as well as human beings. Either natural or synthetic, steroids are
released from human body in the form of polar inactive conjugates, but they remain
in sewage effluent as active and free substance. This is due to enzymatic or chemical
dissociation by the bacterial sludge present in the sewage effluent which converts
these inactive conjugates of steroids into active steroids as reported by Fan and team
in the year 2011 (Fan et al. 2011).
T. Sahoo et al.
7.3 Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products
These substances maintain their chemical characteristics and vary in a wide range as
they generally contain a non-polar centre with a polar functional group. The products
formed on the transformations of these substances remain persistently in environment as reported by Fent and his team in the year 2006 and Clarke and Smith in the
year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011; Caminada et al. 2006). In 2003, Diaz-Cruz and
team reported that the environmental existence of Fenofibrate and Clofibrate which
are the metabolite of blood lipid is twenty one years (Silvia D´ ıaz-Cruz et al. 2003).
Additionally, this medicinal waste carries unknown and dangerous side effects on
various species, mostly after a long period of exposure. It also initiates resistance
to bacteria by releasing antibiotics into the surroundings. Till now, the overall and
detailed impact of these metabolites among the organisms in the environment is
unpredictable as reported by Hernando and team in the year 2011 (Hernando et al.
2011). Pharmaceutical and personal care products and their transformed products,
i.e. metabolites, are collectively known to as effluent-derived contaminants which
are available mostly in the wastewater. To name a few, some of the structural categories of antibiotics are macrolides, sulphonamides, tetracyclines, cephalosporins,
penicillin, fluoroquinolones and nitroimidazoles as reported by Clarke and Smith
and Jury and team in the year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011; Jury et al. 2011). All the
pharmaceuticals, their metabolite, personal care products and antibiotics have the
property to remain persistent, and only a part of it is degraded during the treatment
process and hence makes its way into the drinking water supplies, thereby causing
harmful effect on environment and health as reported by Clarke and Smith in the
year 2011 (Clarke and Smith 2011).
7.4 Steroids
Synthetic steroids and natural endrogenous like mestranol and estrone, respectively,
are primarily released from wastewater treatment plant, and excretion of human body
enters into the ecosystem (Thomaidis et al. 2012). This results in harmful effect on
the environment as well as human beings. Either natural or synthetic, steroids are
released from human body in the form of polar inactive conjugates, but they remain
in sewage effluent as active and free substance. This is due to enzymatic or chemical
dissociation by the bacterial sludge present in the sewage effluent which converts
these inactive conjugates of steroids into active steroids as reported by Fan and team
in the year 2011 (Fan et al. 2011).