Antipsychotics as environmental pollutants: An underrated threat?

The heterogeneous class of what we nowadays call antipsychotics was born almost 70 years ago with the serendipitous discovery chlorpromazine. Their utilization is constantly growing because they are used to treat a diverse group diseases and patients across all age groups: schizophrenia, bipolar disease, depression, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, behavioural psychological symptoms in dementia, among others. They possess complex pharmacological profile, acting on multiple receptors: dopaminergic, serotoninergic, histaminergic, adrenergic, cholinergic, leading scientists them “agents rich pharmacology” or “dirty drugs”. Serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, noradrenaline, histamine their respective receptors evolutionary ancient compounds, as such, found many different living beings environment. Antipsychotics do not disappear once excreted by patient's urine faeces transported wastewater treatment plants. But these plant's technology designed eliminate drugs metabolites, variable proportion administered dose ends up environment, where have been every matrix: municipal wastewater, hospital sewage, rivers, lakes, sea even drinking water. We believe that reported concentrations environment might be high enough exert significant effect aquatic wildlife. Besides, recent studies suggest antipsychotics, others, very likely bioaccumulating through web food. Crucially, psychotropics may provoke changes affecting populations' dynamics at lower concentrations. so far, received deserve regards drug pollution, role environmental pollutants has underrated.