Comparing Environmental Policies to Reduce Pharmaceutical Pollution and Address Disparities

Meghana Desai, Anuli Njoku and Lillian Nimo-Sefah
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Meghana Desai: Health Analytics Network LLC, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, USA
Anuli Njoku: Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
Lillian Nimo-Sefah: Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: Pharmaceutical products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients and inactive ingredients such as packaging materials, have raised significant concerns due to their persistent input and potential threats to human and environmental health. Discourse on reducing pharmaceutical waste and subsequent pollution is often limited, as information about the toxicity of pharmaceuticals in humans is yet to be fully established. Nevertheless, there is growing awareness about ecotoxicity, and efforts to curb pharmaceutical pollution in the European Union (EU), United States (US), and Canada have emerged along with waste disposal and treatment procedures, as well as growing concerns about impacts on human and animal health, such as through antimicrobial resistance. Yet, the outcomes of such endeavors are often disparate and involve multiple agencies, organizations, and departments with little evidence of cooperation, collaboration, or oversight. Environmental health disparities occur when communities exposed to a combination of poor environmental quality and social inequities experience more sickness and disease than wealthier, less polluted communities. In this paper, we discuss pharmaceutical environmental pollution in the context of health disparities and examine policies across the US, EU, and Canada in minimizing environmental pollution.

Keywords: pharmaceutical waste; pharmaceutical pollution; environmental policies; disparities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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