Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a large and diverse group of chemicals that are widely disseminated at low concentrations in the aquatic environment.
PPCPs enter the nation's waterways from a variety of sources: household disposal of unwanted medications, sewage treatment plant effluent and sludge (often used as fertilizer on agricultural fields), pharmaceutical production plant effluent, veterinary
medicine (particularly in agriculture), and aquaculture.

Advances in analytical techniques have permitted the identification of PPCPs at ug/L and ng/L concentrations in sewage treatment plant influent and effluent, surface waters, groundwater, sea water, and drinking water. Pharmaceuticals, in particular, are designed to be strongly biologically active and to be readily taken up by the body and resist degradation. Paradoxically, it is these very qualities that make pharmaceuticals persistent in the environment and frequently capable of bioaccumulating through trophic levels, triggering a concern for health effects. As we have dramatically increased our use of pharmaceutical drugs and household products containing antibiotics in recent decades, concern over the potential environmental health effects of low-level, persistent PPCPs in our water supplies has driven a great deal of recent research in this area.

The most common PPCPs identified in the environment are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, blood-lipid lowering agents, and sex hormones. These are closely followed by antiepileptics, beta blocker, antidepressants,
antihypertensives, and antineoplastics. For antibiotics in the environment, the primary concern is the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, but for all of these therapeutic
classes, very little is known about the consequences of chronic, low-level exposure on either human health or environmental health. Although these compounds have
a wide variety of therapeutic mechanisms, they also have biological mechanisms in common, most notably disruption of the endocrine system, which can potentially lead to
abnormalities in sexual development, fertility, nervous-system development, and other  consequences. Additionally, relatively little is known concerning the effects of these therapeutic classes of drugs on non-target organisms, such as microorganisms, algae, other invertebrates, and fish. Recent research suggests that combinations of PPCPs can be considerably more potent for many toxicological end points than individual compounds.

Potential solutions for PPCPs in the environment are as varied as the compounds, themselves. For some pharmaceuticals and for household products containing antibiotics, public education on proper disposal of medications and the lack of advantage of antibiotics in household products would be sufficient to dramatically lower environmental concentrations. For others, such as agricultural metaphylaxis, policy and practice changes may become necessary. As scientists, industry, policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders grapple with the far-reaching and complex implications of PPCPs in the environment, the need for interdisciplinary communication becomes of paramount importance. To this end, on February
16, 2011, the Environmental and Occupational Health Department and Alumni at California State University, Northridge will organize an educational symposium entitled,
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Water Systems: Potential Impacts and Sustainable Solutions. The symposium will address scientific issues surrounding analytical identification of compounds, the potential for health effects
and risk assessment to human health and environmental health, and is certified for Continuing Education units. For more information, please visit www.csunalumni.com/eohtechsym2011