title: Prioritization methodology for the monitoring of active pharmaceutical ingredients in hospital effluents.
abstract: The important number of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) available on the market along with their potential adverse effects in the aquatic ecosystems, lead to the development of prioritization methods, which allow choosing priority molecules to monitor based on a set of selected criteria. Due to the large volumes of API used in hospitals, an increasing attention has been recently paid to their effluents as a source of environmental pollution. Based on the consumption data of a Swiss university hospital, about hundred of API has been prioritized following an OPBT approach (Occurrence, Persistence, Bioaccumulation and Toxicity). In addition, an Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) allowed prioritizing API based on predicted concentrations and environmental toxicity data found in the literature for 71 compounds. Both prioritization approaches were compared. OPBT prioritization results highlight the high concern of some non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antiviral drugs, whereas antibiotics are revealed by ERA as potentially problematic to the aquatic ecosystems. Nevertheless, according to the predicted risk quotient, only the hospital fraction of ciprofloxacin represents a risk to the aquatic organisms. Some compounds were highlighted as high-priority with both methods: ibuprofen, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, ritonavir, gabapentin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, raltegravir, propofol, etc. Analyzing consumption data and building prioritization lists helped choosing about 15 API to be monitored in hospital wastewaters. The API ranking approach adopted in this study can be easily transposed to any other hospitals, which have the will to look at the contamination of their effluents.
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Pharmacy, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Silwan.Daouk@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Silwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daouk
authors.affiliation: University of Lausanne (UNIL), Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chèvre
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Pharmacy, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vernaz
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Pharmacy, Geneva, Switzerland; University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonnabry
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dayer
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Youssef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Daali
authors.affiliation: Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Pharmacy, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fleury-Souverain
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental risk assessment; Hospital effluents; Pharmaceuticals; Predicted environmental concentrations; Prioritization