Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry - e-PG Pathshala

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry Subject Chemistry Paper No and Title 4, Environmental Chemistry Module No and Title 32, Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry Module Tag CHE_P4_M32

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Learning outcomes 2. Introduction 2.1. Polymer industry 2.2. Drug industry 3. Environmental issues 3.1. Environmental implementation of polymer 3.2. Drug pollution 4. Heath hazards to humans 4.1 Health hazards due to polymers 4.2 Impact of pharmaceutical on human health 5. Prevention and control 5.1 Prevention for reducing polymeric pollution 5.2 Good manufacturing practices in drug industry 6. Summary

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry 1. Learning Outcomes By the end of this module, you shall be able to • Know about the nature of Polymer industry and drug industry • Learn about the polymers use and pharmaceutical drugs. • Identify the problems due to the polymer and drug industry and its health hazards • Evaluate the solutions or prevention techniques so as to protect the environment. 2. Introduction 2.1 Polymers industry Polymer is a macromolecule formed by the coupling of large number of the monomer units in repetition. The physical structure of the world in which we live is made up of polymer. There are basically two forms of polymers i.e. natural and synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the components of biological systems like proteins (wool, silk), carbohydrates (starch, cellulose, cotton), lipids and nucleic acids (DNA, RNA). On the other hand synthetic polymers like plastic are man-made and are manufactured in polymer industry. Polymers are not easily biodegraded in the environment due to its water repelling characteristic therefore, they have long life span. 2.2 Drug industry Drug industry is also called as pharm aceutical industry. Many pharmaceutical industries are involved in manufacturing of drug substances and also have the tendency to frequently throw new drugs into the market. They develop or produce markets drugs that are registered for medication use. Th ey have many rules and regula tion conside ring the patenting , testing and ensuring safety of drugs. 3. Environmental Issues 3.1 Environmental implementation of polymer The polymer industry is linked with the following environmental problems regarding manufacturing, use and synthetic polymers disposal. 3.1.1 Air pollution The non-biodegradable nature of synthetic polymers makes them a permanent waste. The used polymeric products like plastic bags and bottles cannot be dumped in sanitary landfills.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry These synthetic waste items are then combust in the incinerators which results in release of harmful gases and cause air pollution. The gases that are produced during combustion include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. All these gases are toxic in nature and are cause of global warming and formation of acid rain. In addition, incineration also releases dust particles. Combustion of plastic like polyvinyl chloride yields HCl gas as it contains chlorine. In moisture availability, it is converted into HCl acid which results in corrosion of nearby buildings and structures. It also affects the growth of vegetables in the surrounding areas. 3.1.2 Water pollution When the polymeric wastes are introduced to marine environment they are rapidly broken down into smaller particulates. The tiny plastic particles are ingested by sea organisms and results in the intestinal blockage in larva fishes. These not only toxic for sea organisms but tend to bioaccumulate in the food chain. 3.1.3 Occupational hazards The workers doing job in polymer and plastic industries are known to suffer from a number of health problems. It is estimated that the workers employed in poly vinyl chloride industry are revealed to severe health hazards as its monomer causes rare type of liver cancer. Therefore, a limit is assign for the vinyl chloride exposure in industry i.e. 1ppm over an 8 hr. period. 3.2 Drug pollution Drug pollution is caused by pharmaceutical drugs and their metabolites. It mainly harms the water life system when untreated wastewater from these drug industries reached to aquatic environment like ground water, rivers, lakes and oceans. The chemicals from drug industry are widely used by humans and for production of food. Therefore, when it enters the environment, the drug chemical enters in their life cycle and affects health of human and other living organisms. The increase in population results in the more consumption of medicines and medical treatments and the volume of pharmaceutical industry waste is expected to increase rapidly. These pharmaceuticals drugs can come in contact with the environment mainly in three forms: • They are excreted by the humans and animals, mainly through the urine and moves into the environment directly or indirectly by the sewage plant. • Unused drugs reaches the environment either through household water or through urban solid garbage handling. • Manufacturing plants that are producing the active substance which can dispose off the pharmaceuticals into the environment. 3.2.1 Marine pollution

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry Most of the pollution is caused by expired drugs which are flushed down, the magnitude of flushed drug is greater in hospitals than residential context. Because of high solubility of these drugs they especially affect aquatic organisms and therefore most prominently water contamination is caused by drug industry. The concentration of a man-made hormone i.e. Estra-diol an estrogen is lower than 1 nm in 1 liter of water and this is responsible for production of fishes and change in their sex organs. But when pharmaceuticals are added to the water bodies the estrogenic compounds concentration increases and affect reproductive fitness of living organisms. Other example of environmental effects on aquatic environment is exposed of cardiovascular medicines. It causes a rapid decrease eggs production in fish and it lowers the blood levels of testosterone in fish. Also in the drug residues found from Dallas drinking water in US it is estimated that the large drug producers have legally throw 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into water ways. The pharmaceuticals include antibiotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. In homes, during the use of septic tanks, the drugs removed the toilet can come into the ground and seep into ground water. In cities and towns where residences are linked by the wastewater treatment plants, the drugs flowed down the sink or removed the toilet can pass by the treatment system and enter into rivers and lakes. They may discharge downstream to serve as community sources drinking water supplies. And causes pollute the drinking water as water treatment plants are generally not equipped to remove routinely medicines. 4. Health hazards to humans 4.1 Health hazards due to polymers The additives used for hardening of plastic i.e. plasticizer mainly causes health hazards in humans. For example, phthalate ester plasticizers are taken out by the blood from the plastic bags which are used for the storage of blood. It enters in the blood stream of patient when he receives that blood. The health problems concerned with polychlorinated biphenyl are more dangerous. They are fat soluble polymers and therefore they concentrate in the aquatic organisms. When human consume contaminated fish they are bare to headache, fatigue and pains in joint. If the polychlorinated biphenyl concentration increases to 12ppm it results in blindness. 4.2 Impact of pharmaceuticals on human health The effects of pharmaceuticals drugs on human health is influenced by many factors. These factors include the drug concentration, type of drug and its distribution in environment. Few environmental pharmaceuticals chemicals are well known which causes serious hemotoxic effects in humans.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry The pharmaceutical drugs may react by chance when mixed with the different chemicals from the environment in the food chain. Some of the drugs are very active even at very low concentration. It is found that the development of growth of frogs in aquatic environment is affected by an antidepressants class. The chemicals in these products can either harm the feminization or masculinization of the different fishes, therefore their reproductive rates has large impact. Also the consumption of contaminated water affects the lives of consumer. These are also found in soil as these chemicals cannot be degraded easily by biological process or take a long time to degrade so they can insert in to food chain. Some known pharmaceutical drugs and their impacts on human health 4.2.1 Penicillin Penicillin is highly allergic in nature. Its extensive use causes allergic problems. The most serious reaction of it is shock. It occurs in minutes after shown by penicillin. Symptoms are tightness in the chest, asthmatic breathing, lips swelling, tongue, or face and even heart failure in some cases. 4.2.2 Tetracycline and streptomycin If workers exposed to tetracycline and to streptomycin, the bacteria modification led to a drop in the body's vitamin content, especially of the B vitamins. Another problem associated with occupational shown to tetracycline is drug resistance. Workers may develop infections that are resistant to treatment with tetracycline. 4.2.3Antibiotics Antibiotics are chemical substances capable of destroying micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses which cause infection in animals and humans. The occupational exposure effects of antibiotics include: • Allergic reactions: Itching and eyes redness, runny nose, skin rashes, asthma, and occasionally shock due to an allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). • Vitamin deficiency: Workers with regular risk to antibiotics experience a change in bacteria type and number which are generally available in the intestines that break down and absorb vitamins in the intestines. • Fungal infections: Daily risk of antibiotic dust may cause fungal infections of the skin and nails. Additionally, women workers may develop vaginal yeast infections on exposure to antibiotics. • Toxic effects: Exposure to certain antibiotics may lead to development of some of the toxic side effects that occur when that drug is given as medicine. 4.2.4 Nitroglycerine

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry It is commonly used in dynamite; it is a medicine for heart patients. Its exposure causes headache due to relaxation of the blood vessels or down in blood pressure. It results in dizziness and even fainting may occur. Other more serious effects are heart pain, heart attacks, and sudden death. 4.2.5 Reproductive effects The study of women found an increase in spontaneous abortion increasing with exposure to methylene chloride, benzene, estrogens, and toluene. Twelve of the 24 female production workers had inter-menstrual bleeding. Exposure to solvents and methylene chloride in particular may have harmful effects on pregnancy. 5. Prevention and control 5.1 Prevention for reducing polymeric pollution To reduce the pollution of health hazards caused by synthetic polymers it should be biodegradable. It is possible to recycle the used plastic items, thus reduces the pollution load. There two methods for reducing environmental problems caused by polymeric pollution. 5.1.1 Photodegradation process It is the process of breaking down of macromolecules into smaller units by sunlight. It is done so that micro-molecules can be easily metabolized by microorganisms. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation may cause significant degradation of many materials. Almost all the synthetic polymers need stability against the hazardous environmental effects. It is mandatory to find a solution to reduce or prevent damage caused by environmental components such as heat, light or oxygen. 5.1.2 Recycling of plastic Another way to decrease the polymer pollution is to recycle the used waste plastic items. It is taking place in number of steps. Firstly the non-plastic material is separated manually then plastic are granulated and washed so as to remove dust and paper labels. The granule material is then moved through a series of hydraulic tanks to remove heavy particles such as stones and metals. Then the clean granules are finally moulded to final product. 5.2 Good manufacturing practices in drug industry The good manufacturing practice is the system which is important to be adapted in manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs. The practice includes quality control, quality system and testing of pharmaceuticals. Now and then threshold limits are recommended for pharmaceutical products by the research workers. The almost complete absence of official data indicates that it is mandatory Radhey 9/6/2015 12:46 PMComment [1]: This is required by industries................ However, being easily degradable is required to prvent the polymeric pollution.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chemistry Paper 4: Environmental Chemistry Module 32: Environmental issues of Polymer and drug industry to reduce exposures to the least possible levels. Few researchers have concluded that it is difficult to evaluate causes of morbidity in pharmaceutical workers because manufacturing processes and additives differ between factories and exposures are to multiple chemicals. Unwanted and expired prescription should be returned and over to a drug take back program. For household disposal of drugs followings steps should be done: 1. Prescription drugs is taken out by their original containers. 2. Drugs are mixed with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds. 3. Mixture is thrown into a disposable container having lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag. 4. Conceal or remove personal information, consisting of Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with the permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off. 5. The sealed container having drug mixture, and the empty drug containers, can be placed in the trash. The other preventions that should be taken especially by the workers are the respirator use with a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter and all respirators must be checked to make sure that they are fit well enough for protection, Gloves should be wearing by workers to protect their skin from contact with chemicals in drug industry. 6. Summary • In polymer industry manufacturing of the synthetic polymers takes place. And drug industry is known to make pharmaceutical drugs that are used in medication. • The non-biodegradable nature of synthetic polymers makes them a permanent waste. Also the chemicals from drug industry are widely used by the humans and for production of food. Therefore, it may enter in the environment during its life cycle and affect environment and human health. • The increase in population results in the more consumption of medicines and medical treatments and the number of pharmaceutical and plastic products are expected to increase rapidly. • To decrease the pollution of health hazards caused by synthetic polymers it must be biodegradable also, the unwanted and expired prescription should be returned and over to a drug take back program.