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A new research project aiming to tackle pharmaceutical pollution in Scotland’s rivers, lochs and coastal waters has been launched with £1.19m funding.

Pharmacy academics are to play a key role in the PhRESHWater project, which will explore ways to prevent drugs like antibiotics, anti-inflammatories ending up in Scottish waters.

The collaborative scheme will seek to identify practical solutions at various stages in the drug lifecycle, including identifying priority medicines, behavioural changes to support sustainable prescribing and disposal, and pollution reduction technologies.

It draws on a “novel visualisation tool” developed by the Scottish One Health Breakthrough Partnership that “integrates data on pharmaceuticals detected in Scottish waters with NHS Scotland prescribing data,” said the University of Nottingham, which is taking part in the initiative.

The university added: “The project will generate new evidence, tools, and resources to support coordinated action on pharmaceutical pollution, helping to safeguard environmental and human health while enabling the healthcare and water sectors to meet sustainability goals.”

The project will see academics from the University of Nottingham’s school of pharmacy team up with organisations including the University of the Highlands and Islands, NHS Highland and Heriot-Watt University to work on “a novel, systems-based approach to reducing the environmental impacts of medicine”.

The researchers said: “Pollution can arise across the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle – from production, prescribing and patient use to disposal and wastewater treatment.

“Following administration, up to 90 per cent of some medicines may be excreted unchanged, entering wastewater systems that were not designed to remove these compounds.

“Additional pollution occurs when unused or expired medicines are incorrectly flushed down toilets or sinks rather than returned to pharmacies for safe disposal.

“These substances are designed to have biological effects in humans and may similarly affect aquatic life, while also contributing to the environmental spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).”

Dr Naoko Arakawa from the University of Nottingham described the initiative as an opportunity to tackle “complicated issues around eco-toxicity and pharmaceutical pollution”.