The main objectives of the event were:    
   
To define a state of the art profile,    
   
To transfer to end-users and to interested parties the available information dealing with veterinary and human pharmaceuticals in the environment,    
   
To identify the future needs and gaps for research investigations,    
   
To discuss the aims for an European research network focusing on the environmental risk management of these substances. 
            

(From all the results presented during Envirpharma and obtained from several national monitoring programs, it is now well established that a great number 
of pharmaceuticals belonging to various therapeutic classes, including hormones, and several other personal care products   
(e.g. musk fragrances and contrast media) are widely present in our aquatic and terrestrial environments.  An important research effort has been carried 
out to study the fate of HMPs in these systems. Other systems, such as bank filtration for pre-treating drinking water,   
can remove compounds, but other times some compounds will pass through and contaminate the drinking water. For such cases, oxidation has shown to be a useful 
tool for post-treatment. Veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) are more associated with contaminating terrestrial ecosystems, even though they can just 
as well enter surface and ground water due to runoff and leaching. The class of compounds mostly studied and used for treating live-stock are antibiotics (e.g. 
oxytetracycline and sulfachloropyridazine) and anti-parasiticides. Live stock excrements (faeces and urine) and manure spreading are the more common 
exposure pathways of these compounds to soils and to leachates, making them prime evaluation areas. Some of the antibiotic compounds studied have   
shown to be degradable in slurry. However the sorption of the substances to soils and the soil type are a concern, especially under rainfall conditions which 
transport them to aquatic systems.   
(Theme II). Knowing that various medicinal compounds are present, even at environmental concentrations, has brought up questions and opened areas of study 
for toxicologists.  Some of the ecotoxicological tests used to respond to such questions have included the use of standard tools or more sophisticated systems 
such as microcosms. Toxicologist have studied the effects on different organisms, especially those in soil-based microcosms, which contain multi-species. 
Even more, one of their main goals is to determine sensitive endpoints for risk assessment guidelines for pharmaceuticals. Efforts have been made to develop 
new approaches which target specific concerns and reproduce exposure conditions. Although the results were few, some works investigated   
mixture effects, but the development of models and interpretation must be encouraged. (Theme III). Another aspect of the conference integrated the issues 
on environmental risk assessments (ERA). Currently, the guidelines for ERA of VMPs and HMPs are under discussion. On   
the same principles as for other chemical compounds (pesticides, biocides …), these ERA procedures are based on the calculation of PEC, PNEC and a risk quotient 
calculation. Parts of these guidelines (Exposure assessment or Effect Assessment) are now available and   
discussed. The environmental risk of new VMPs is assessed in the frame of marketing authorisations.  Importantly enough, pharmaceutical industries run 
various actions (eg CYCLAMED which aims to collect medicinal wastes from patients) to reduce the environmental intake. For removal technologies, treatment 
of waste waters (including those from hospitals, and drinking waters have included different oxidation processes (e.g. ozonation, photolysis   
and microwave treatment) for reducing HMPs. As an alternative for or in addition to drinking water production, activated carbon adsorption and combined 
membrane filtration were used with extremely promising results. However treatment costs and knowledge on the toxicity of metabolites and   
degradation products after wastewater treatments need more consideration.   
(Theme V). Other various gaps of knowledge lie within these topics covered on HMPs and VMPs in the environment. A few examples include: the levels of sediment 
contamination in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems; more knowledge on degradation in manure and STPs and on the sorption-desorption of pharmaceuticals; 
the persistence of these compounds in estuarine and marine waters. Chronic effect data is lacking as well as standard assay procedures of non target organisms 
such as dung insects. In order to prevent risks, information and educational campaigns are useful. Also, beneficial mitigation measures and a tiered classification 
system for the environment and for accepting medicines should be included in the framework of authorisation. Nevertheless, the 6th Research programs in the 
EU will provide several opportunities to fill   
such gaps of knowledge to improve pharmaceutical ERA in the EU. Other non European countries, such as Canada, are developing wide scale monitoring and research 
programs dealing with exposure levels and biological effects of PPCPs. 
            

The main objectives of the event were:    
   
To define a state of the art profile,    
   
To transfer to end-users and to interested parties the available information dealing with veterinary and human pharmaceuticals in the environment,    
   
To identify the future needs and gaps for research investigations,    
   
To discuss the aims for an European research network focusing on the environmental risk management of these substances.    
   
The available resources are:   
   
-Posters   
-Oral Presentations   
-Abstract Book