We work continuously, internally and with other organisations, to improve our understanding of the way in which pharmaceuticals interact with the environment.
We understand, and take seriously, concerns about the detections of trace amounts of pharmaceutical residues in the environment. We work continuously, internally and with other companies, academics and regulators, to improve our understanding of the science and how pharmaceuticals interact with the environment, and the risks they may pose.
The presence of trace levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment (PiE) results largely from patient excretion and is an inevitable result of the way most current medicines work. To be effective, medicines have to be stable enough to get to the part of the body where they need to be active, without deteriorating along the way. This means that sometimes there are residues, which leave the body in the usual way and enter the environment via the sewage system.
We are committed to identifying any potential adverse affects on the environment that our medicines might have and responsibly balancing these against the benefits that these medicines bring to patients’ lives.
You can read in this section about our research in this field, our product stewardship and our work to encourage proper disposal of unused medicines.
Transparency
We make environmental risk data for our existing products publicly available via the Swedish Doctors Prescribing Guide website, using the voluntary disclosure system introduced by the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (LIF). AstraZeneca has a leading role in developing the guidance for this activity.
Engagement and communication
We actively engage and partner with other pharmaceutical companies, non-governmental organisations, scientists, regulators, patients, and prescribers to share scientific knowledge and experience to manage issues on this topic responsibly.
As part of this, we continue to share our research by regularly publishing scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Some of our work is shown in the bibliography.
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