2 February 2021
Veterinary medicines and the environment
Veterinary Medicines Directorate Strategy It should also be noted that the recently published Regulatory Science Strategy from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) includes, as part of their goal of ‘Strengthening a life cycle approach to benefit-risk assessment’, the proposal to ‘Improve the evaluation of environmental and residues adverse events’ (2.4.3). The strategy document notes that there is growing concern regarding the impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment, both in relation to their potential effects on ecosystems and effects on human safety. The strategy goes on to list the steps that the VMD will look to undertake in order to improve the evaluation of environmental and residues adverse events. These will include:- understand the existing systems of environmental monitoring (of terrestrial and aquatic systems), for chemicals used as veterinary medicines in the UK.
- research and develop appropriate guidance on the risks of secondary exposure from household contamination, and exposure of bees and other pollinators, from topically administered veterinary medicines for companion animals.
- evaluate the need for post authorisation environmental monitoring programmes for those compounds considered to be a high risk to ecosystems.