DESCRIPTION OF ACTION
In 2017, HELCOM and UNESCO published a report on pharmaceuticals found in waters in the Baltic Sea region and their concentrations and pathways into the freshwater and marine environments. The report includes data on 167 pharmaceutical substances sampled in surface water systems, in coastal and open sea areas and at municipal wastewater treatment plants in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Russia (St. Petersburg) and Sweden. Only nine out of the 118 assessed pharmaceuticals found at municipal wastewater treatment plants in the Baltic Sea region were removed from wastewater during the treatment processes with an efficiency of over 95%, and nearly half of the compounds were removed with an efficiency of less than 50%. The most frequently measured pharmaceutical substances in the marine environment belong to the therapeutic groups of anti-inflammatory and analgesics, cardiovascular agents and central nervous system agents. Of the pharmaceuticals studied, 91% were detected at municipal wastewater treatment plants, 52% in the freshwater environment and 44% in the marine environment. The data in the report covers the period 2003–2014.
SCHEDULE
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT AND FUNDING
MAIN IMPLEMENTING PARTY AND CONTACT
UNESCO and HELCOM
Final report:
http://www.helcom.fi/action-areas/industrial-municipal-releases/pharmaceuticals/status-report