Pharmaceutical Pollution in Agriculture: Impacts and risks for soil health and crop production

Large amounts of pharmaceuticals are used globally for human and animal treatment. The increase in use of effluent for irrigation and bio solids for fertiliser application, will enhance exposure of agricultural soils to pharmaceuticals. Their presence in soils may cause a range of effects in soil, microbial and crop functioning, but evidence is limited to a small proportion of the pharmaceuticals. We therefore urgently need to know the unintended implications of the chronic, low-level exposure of pharmaceuticals introduced to agricultural soils by human and veterinary waste to inform environmental risk assessment, land management practices and their role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.