High Concentrations of Pharmaceuticals in a Nigerian River Catchment.

Pharmaceutical contamination of the environment is recognized as a global problem although most research has focused on Europe and North America to date, and there remains a dearth of information for developing countries, including those in Africa. To address this data gap, the occurrence of 37 pharmaceuticals belonging to 19 therapeutic classes was monitored in surface water and effluents in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria. Samples were collected quarterly between April 2017 and March 2018 from 22 sites, and 26 compounds were detected at least once, many in the µg/L range. Maximum concentrations for those compounds detected ranged from 75 to 129 µg L-1 , and even mean concentrations for 13 compounds were in the order of µg L-1 . These values are among the highest ever measured globally. Sewage effluent was more important than drug manufacturing waste in polluting rivers, although there are likely to be numerous unregulated sources of effluent being discharged to rivers that require further study, including urban waste collection areas and vacuum trucks that collect effluent. Seasonal trends in the data were complex, with some compounds being found at higher concentrations in the dry season and, conversely, others being greater during the wet period; this variation potentially relates to the variety of pollution sources in the catchment. Pharmaceuticals are indispensable to human health, although their usage and discharge into the aquatic environment may lead to ecological problems and antibiotic resistance. The data we present indicate that pharmaceutical pollution of freshwaters is a serious issue in Nigeria, and management efforts are needed to improve this problem. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:551-558. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Residential aged care and general practice: workforce demographic trends, 1984-2000.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the demographic changes in the cohort of general practitioners servicing residential aged-care facilities (RACFs) from 1984 to 2000. DESIGN: Quantitative analysis of Medicare datasets from 1984 to 2000. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: All GPs who provided Medicare-claimed RACF services from 1984 to 2000. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Aggregate data on RACF GPs by age group and sex; total and average number of RACF services by GP age group and sex. RESULTS: The proportion of RACF GPs younger than 35 years has declined from a peak of 30.2% in 1986 to 11.5% in 2000. GPs aged 45 years and older made up 58.1% of all RACF GPs in 2000, compared with 41.4% in 1984. In 2000, 28.4% of RACF GPs were female, compared with 13.5% in 1984. The proportion of RACF services provided by GPs younger than 35 years fell from 19.2% in 1984 to 4.5% in 2000, and the proportion provided by GPs aged 45 years and older increased from 54.7% to 72.4%. Female GPs' RACF services as a proportion of all RACF services increased from 8.9% to 15.9% between 1984 and 2000, but the average number of RACF services per female GP declined by 15.6 services per year. In contrast, the average number of RACF services per male GP increased by 11.2 per year. The increasing rate of RACF servicing by older GPs is independent of female GPs' declining involvement. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest an increasing reliance on older, male GPs in the supply of RACF services. Although the proportion of female RACF GPs has increased, average services by these GPs, who are generally younger, has declined. The personal and work preferences of female GPs may have implications for future RACF services supply as older, generally male, GPs retire.