TP2 Pharmaceuticals
255 Portland Ballroom
1:20 PM - 4:40 PM, Tuesday
() A Conceptual Framework for Assessing the Ecological Risk of Pharmaceuticals.
Ankley, G1, Black, M2, Garric, J3, Hutchinson, T4, Iguchi, T5, 1 US Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, MN, USA2 University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA3 Laboratory for Ecotoxicology, Lyon, France4 Astra Zeneca, Brixham, UK5 Okazaki National Research Institute, Okazaki, Japan
ABSTRACT- In order to cost-effectively address the aquatic ecotoxicity of human pharmaceuticals, research is needed to identify which methods from the wide range available are best suited for use in regulatory environmental risk assessments. In some cases, the highly-specific receptor-based pharmacology of drugs may require chronic reproductive testing with fish (e.g., for some endocrine active pharmaceuticals) while other classes of compounds with less-specific modes of action (such as some anaesthetics and analgesics) may be more-cost-effectively addressed using short-term sublethal tests with algae, crustaceans and/or fish. In order to try to prevent an inefficient and un-targeted approach to test every chemical with every method, there is need for a focused research program to better define the most suitable species, life-stages and endpoints (both apical effects for quantitative risk assessment, and biomarker responses that support diagnostic interpretation through an understanding of toxic mechanism) for an optimized scheme of pharmaceutical testing. This research could be achieved through strategic testing of a set of pharmaceutical materials representative of different key modes/mechanisms of action. This presentation will introduce a conceptual framework and list of reference pharmaceuticals that could be used in deciding on future testing priorities for the regulatory assessment of pharmaceutical products and complex mixtures containing drugs, their metabolites and other substances.
Key words: ecological risk, pharmaceuticals, testing