Within recent years pharmaceuticals have come into focus as contaminants of the environment (see for example Kümmerer, K. editor: Pharmaceuticals in the Environment). At the same time the issue of sustainable chemistry gained momentum. Bringing both together would result in sustainable pharmacy. Sustainable pharmacy is a totally new issue and approach. It addresses environmental, economical and social aspects of pharmacy. In the present stage the focus will be on environmental issues along the whole lifecycle of a pharmaceutical entity. That is dealing with resources and energy input but also with waste issues for example during the synthesis and production of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. Furthermore, it would also look on the compounds themselves and will aim to improve the degradability of the compounds after their use in the environment to reduce the environmental risk caused by pharmaceuticals in the environment. Another issue is the people using pharmaceuticals such as pharmacists, medical doctors and patients. How can they contribute to more efficient use of pharmaceuticals with less environmental burden and less risk for drinking water. The book "Sustainable Pharmacy" will address all these issues and will be the first one dealing with this important topic.
Green and Sustainable Pharmacy
Klaus Kümmerer · Maximilian Hempel Editors
Green and Sustainable Pharmacy
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Editors Prof. Dr. Klaus Kümmerer Department of Environmental Health Sciences University Medical Center Freiburg Breisacherstraße 115b 79106 Freiburg Germany
[email protected] [email protected]
Maximilian Hempel Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt D-49090 Osnabrück Germany
[email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-05198-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-05199-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-05199-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010924552 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover Photo: Jim Barber - fotolia.com Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Dear reader, Pharmaceuticals are an indispensable part of our modern times, allowing for a high quality of life and an increased life expectancy. The last few years have shown that pharmaceuticals leave an partly unchanged impact on the environment after their use. As they are barely incompletely eliminated by sewage treatment, they are still found in relevant concentrations in the aquatic environment and drinking water. Human-toxicologically seen, the concentrations gi