The Issue

The huge quantities of medicines ending up in waste or in aquatic systems are a major environmental health issue. The increasing documentation of low-dose health effects makes pharmaceuticals a priority area from an environmental health perspective.

While patients should be allowed access to the best available pharmaceutical treatment, other things being equal, we should consider the medicine's PBT (persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity) when developing, manufacturing, prescribing, purchasing, donating and disposing of medicines. Our collective aim should be to protect people and the environment from contamination of hazardous chemicals that wouldn't otherwise be there.

Health Care Without Harm provides resources to increase our understanding of the issues involving pharmaceuticals and suggests ways to reduce their environmental impact.