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CE 421/521- Environmental Biotechnology

A Review of Biological Removal of Selected Pharmaceuticals

and Their Transformation Products

 Debra Stephens

ABSTRACT

 The occurrence of pharmaceuticals, and their byproducts, has been documented since the 1970’s (Tabak and Bunch, 1970).  Since then, considerable research has been spent on the challenges presented by their removal.  One of the major problems with pharmaceutical removal is the sheer number of compounds the pharmaceutical industry produces.  This number grows exponentially with the inclusion of each compound’s conjugates, metabolites, or other transformation products.  This presents the further challenges of identifying, quantifying, and tracking the compounds, as well as the determination of their respective toxicity standards.  This paper will review three different drug classes, antibiotics, estrogens, and analgesics, and discuss some of the research that has been done regarding their removal and ultimate environmental fate.

 KEYWORDS

antibiotic, analgesic, estrogen, biodegradation, biofilm, pharmaceuticals