Veterinary medicines and the environment

spotlight topic:

‘In the Spotlight’ features bring together collections of published papers on topics of interest and importance to the veterinary professions.

Papers are chosen for relevance and accessibility, with the full text of articles either being available through the RCVS Knowledge Library, on open access or from other publications to which a significant number of veterinary professionals are likely to have access. This means that there may be relevant evidence that is not included. If you would like assistance in searching for further evidence on this topic you may find the following helpful EBVM Toolkit 2: Finding the best available evidence.

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Veterinary medicines and the environment

Update
1 February 2024

A further paper has been published which seeks to estimate the contribution of ‘down the drain’ contamination from washing dogs and their bedding as well as from handwashing following treatment with Fipronil and Imidacloprid.

Perkins, R. et al. (2024) Down-the-drain pathways for fipronil and imidacloprid applied as spot-on parasiticides to dogs: Estimating aquatic pollution. Science of The Total Environment, 917, 170175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170175.



A paper recently published in Science of the Total Environment has received coverage in both the national and veterinary press, raising concern about the extent to which commonly used parasiticides for companion animals may contaminate the environment.  A summary of the paper is available.

A further paper has been published which seeks to estimate the contribution of ‘down the drain’ contamination from washing dogs and their bedding as well as from handwashing following treatment with Fipronil and Imidacloprid.

Perkins, R. et al. (2024) Down-the-drain pathways for fipronil and imidacloprid applied as spot-on parasiticides to dogs: Estimating aquatic pollution. Science of The Total Environment, 917, 170175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170175.

Press coverage

References

Other relevant resources

Further reading

While there is already a wide literature base available regarding the impact of pharmaceuticals on the environment these papers are mostly published in journals that cover toxicology and environmental science. For those who would like to read more about this subject the following may be of interest.

Anthe, M. et al (2020) Development of an aquatic exposure assessment model for Imidacloprid in sewage treatment plant discharges arising from use of veterinary medicinal products. Environmental Sciences Europe, 32, no. 147 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-020-00424-4

Perkins, R., Whitehaed, M. and Goulson, G. (2021) Dead in the water: comment on “Development of an aquatic exposure assessment model for imidacloprid in sewage treatment plant discharges arising from use of veterinary medicinal products”. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33, no. 88 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-021-00533-8

Cuthbert, R. J. et al. (2014) Avian scavengers and the threat from veterinary pharmaceuticals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0574

Hutchinson, T.H. et al. (2014) Comparative metabolism as a key driver of wildlife species sensitivity to human and veterinary pharmaceuticals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0583

LaLone, C.A. et al. (2014) Leveraging existing data for prioritization of the ecological risks of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals to aquatic organisms. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0022

Küster, A. and Adler, N. (2014) Pharmaceuticals in the environment: scientific evidence of risks and its regulation
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0587

Image copyright attribute:
Luboslav Ivanko

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