On the Mechanisms of Pharmaceutical Pollution of the Environment Risk Reduction

Purpose The purpose of the study is to determine the main mechanisms and measures to reduce the level of environmental risks due to the widespread massive penetration of medicinal principles into the environment and the manifestation of their negative impact on humans. Design/methodology/approach Application of pharmaceuticals in medicine is aimed at preserving population’s health, which contributes to life expectancy and quality of life. Simultaneously with that we can observe increase in the amount of unutilized medicamental waste produced by healthcare facilities and population (non-needed, expired medications), which contributes to deterioration of ecological situation in the environment due to extreme pharmaceutical pollution. Having studied the world leading countries and the Russian Federation experience in the sphere of environment protection, the authors of this work offer a complex of actions and mechanisms aimed at decreasing medical substances concentration in the environment, which will help to improve its level of ecological safety. Findings It is shown that the main mechanisms for reducing environmental risks from medicinal pollution of the biosphere include: 1. Pharmacovigilance, as a mechanism for assessing environmental risks from pollution with new pharmaceuticals and forms. 2. Centers for environmental monitoring of the quality of natural environments, for the organization of control of possible consequences of drug pollution of the biosphere. Originality/value Implementation of the described mechanisms of decreasing pharmaceutical risks of environment contamination will lead to decrease of composition and concentration of pharmaceutical substances and unreliable bio-logically active substances making their way into human’s body via digestive tracts.