Abstract
Scientists first became aware of the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the world's rivers, lakes, and marine coastal ecosystems almost two decades ago. The main route of entry is through human consumption and the inadequate treatment and subsequent release by sewage treatment plants. Aquatic organisms are continuously exposed to low levels of PPCPs over their lifetime. This chronic, sublethal exposure can result in population level effects that could impact the ecosystem. Furthermore, PPCPs could potentially impact human health as they move through the aquatic food chain and are consumed by humans. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as the steroid hormone, estradiol (E2), and the synthetic estrogen, 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2), may have significant implications on human health. Waterborne exposure to these compounds results in substantial reproduction‐level effects in aquatic organisms and evidence suggests that environmental EDCs may also pose a clear risk to human health. Another potentially serious problem to the aquatic ecosystem and human health is the misuse of antibiotics, which is the leading proposed cause of the increased and spreading resistance among bacteria. Limiting the consumption of pharmaceuticals may be the most straightforward way to reduce their appearance in the environment. In addition to pharmaceutical take‐back programs that are currently taking place locally, the involvement of the US federal government is an important step in limiting environmental PPCP contamination.