R4 PM Effects and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceutical and Other Emerging Wastewater Contaminants in Aquatic Systems
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 4

(CUN-1117-823257) Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessment of Carbamazepine in Surface Waters of the United States and Europe.

Cunningham, V.¹, D'Aco, V.², Bechter, R.³, Groff, J.⁴, Hartmann, A.³, ¹ GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA, USA² Quantum Management Group, Inc., Clifton, NJ, USA³ Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland⁴ Merck & Co., Inc., Elkton, VA, USA

ABSTRACT- Carbamazepine is a pharmaceutical compound approved worldwide as a medicine for treating epileptic seizures and trigeminal neuralgia. It is also sometimes used to treat bipolar depression, excited psychosis, and mania. Since 1998, it has been reported as detected in surface waters in Europe, the United States and Canada. Carbamazepine tends to be detected more frequently and at relatively higher concentrations than most other active pharmaceutical compounds (APIs). In addition, studies of its fate in wastewater treatment systems and surface waters suggest that it may be more resistant to degradation than other APIs. This recalcitrance and its relatively high prescription volume may explain, at least in part, the greater detection frequency of carbamazepine in the environment. There have been a relatively large number of papers published on its aquatic fate and effects (more than 20 publications, most published since 2002). This paper summarizes all the peer-reviewed information available to date on the toxicology and aquatic toxicity of carbamazepine, develops surface water concentrations considered protective of human health and both acute and chronic exposures to aquatic life, and compares those concentrations to both measured and modeled concentrations for the United States and Europe.

Key words: carbamazepine, human, environmental, assessment