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The healthcare sector has a unique healing mission, yet hospitals are key point sources for specialised pharmaceutical residues entering the environment, a serious source of pollution that can threaten ecosystems and the environment, as well as drive the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a serious public health threat.Up to 90% of orally administered pharmaceuticals are excreted into wastewater as active substances in the faeces and urine of patients. Wastewater treatment plants widely vary in their capacity to eliminate these

This document has been developed within the framework of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project ID: 9771 on Global Best Practices on Emerging Chemical Policy Issues of Concern under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). This project is funded by the GEF, implemented by UNEP and executed by the SAICM Secretariat.Under the project, UNEP is partnering with Universidad El Bosque to develop a Regional Electronics Study and Circularity Roadmap in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region

Residues of pharmaceuticals are known to occur widely in the aquatic environment of industrialized countries. Even in developing and emerging countries, information on the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment has become more readily available in recent years. However, a concise and comprehensive overview of the relevant pharmaceuticals, their concentrations in the environment and their potential effects on human health and ecosystems is still pending. The information on worldwide exposure of pharmaceuticals is increasing and the German Environment Agency