Prioritizing veterinary pharmaceuticals for aquatic environment in Korea

Pharmaceutical residues may have serious impacts on nontarget biological organisms in aquatic ecosystems, and have therefore precipitated numerous investigations worldwide. Many pharmaceutical compounds available on the market need to be prioritized based on their potential ecological and human health risks in order to develop sound management decisions. We prioritized veterinary pharmaceuticals in Korea by their usage, potential to enter the environment, and toxicological hazard. Twenty compounds were identified in the top priority class, most of which were antibiotics. Among these compounds, 8 were identified as deserving more immediate attention: amoxicillin, enramycin, fenbendazole, florfenicol, ivermectin, oxytetracycline, tylosin, and virginiamycin. A limitation of this study is that we initially screened veterinary pharmaceuticals by sales tonnage for veterinary use only. However, this is the first attempt to prioritize veterinary pharmaceuticals in Korea, and it provides important concepts for developing environmental risk management plans for such contaminants in aquatic systems.