ANOREXIGENIC DRUGS AND ECOTOXICOLOGY: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN THE TREATMENT OF OBESITY

Abstract

Obesity, a Chronic Non-Communicable Disease, has increased significantly in Brazil, being treated with medications such as sibutramine and fenproporex. These medications, in addition to reducing appetite, can stimulate the cardiovascular system and, when conditionally discarded, pollute the environment and threaten public health. It is worth highlighting the excretion of medications (urine and feces) as an additional means of entry of these compounds into the environment. The present study investigates the environmental effects of 10 anorectics, evaluating their toxicity at three trophic levels: algae, crustaceans and fish, through predictive analyzes using the ECOSAR v1.11 software. The results obtained demonstrated that the 10 anorectics are toxic to aquatic organisms, requiring control of wastewater.

Keywords: Pharmaceuticals in the environment, obesity, ECOSAR, anorexigenic drugs, anti-obesity drugs.