Carbamazepine - a study on the input to surface waters

Anticonvulsant carbamazepine is a pharmaceutical, which is necessary to be taken continuously. Moreover carbamazepine and its metabolites are resistant to microbial degradation and sorption onto sludge in present municipal wastewater treatment plants. Therefore carbamazepine and its metabolites pass through WWTP and are constantly discharged to surface waters. Concentrations of carbamazepine measured in surface waters are too low to cause acute toxicological effects, but chronic toxicological effects or synergic effects with other pharmaceuticals cannot be excluded. Due to its physico-chemical properties carbamazepine is recalcitrant to degradation in surface waters and in soil, thus it infiltrates through bedrock to ground water. So far there is not enough information on behaviour and effects of metabolites of carbamazepine in surface waters. Besides carbamazepine, also other pharmaceuticals are nowadays often detected in surface and ground water and in the soil. Furthermore, as the population grows the consumption of pharmaceuticals increases as does their input into environment. However, given the risks, which pharmaceuticals in the environment entail, it is necessary to reduce additional input of these micropolutants into environment. As pharmaceuticals can enter the environment by many pathways, there..