Studying the contamination and fate of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in aquatic environment in Vietnam and the Philippines

Program: Collaborative Research for Common Regional Issues (CRC)

Field: Environmental Engineering

Principal Investigator: Assoc. Prof. HUYNH TRUNG HAI

Sending University: Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST)

Japanese Co-Investigator: Prof. Dr. Hiroaki TANAKA

Japanese University: Kyoto University

Year: 2015

Abstract:

In recent years, PPCPs contamination is recognized as an emerging environmental pollution in aquatic environments, because of their potential adverse effects on the ecosystem and human. Majority of PPCPs used for human, plants and animals are excreted into the environment as decomposed form via various pathways, including wastewater effluent discharge, runoff from agriculture land, and leaching. The ubiquitous application and release of antibiotics to the environment can result in antibiotic resistance of bacteria, which in turn can be a serious health risk to human and animals.
In Vietnam, agriculture and aquaculture are the major economic activities, and excessive and unregulated use of PPCPs is commonly found in human medicine, management of livestock, and aquaculture. The heavy and unregulated use of PPCPs including antibiotics along with the discharge of untreated wastewater into the aquatic environments might cause significant contamination of PCPP residues.
The goal of this study is to identify the contamination level of PPCPs in aquatic environment in the northern area of Vietnam. The resulting level of PPCP contamination will be used for risk assessment of these contaminants to evaluate the adverse effect of the presence these compounds on ecology and human. We can build a new research group for interested topics about micropollutants to water environment such as PPCPs Our staffs and students have a chance to approach, to study and to carry out the modern analytical techniques. They also improve their team working skill. The research results may help society being awareness in usage and dispose pharmaceuticals and personal care products with the purpose of water environmental protection