Veterinary pharmaceutical residues seen from a Swedish environmental and regulatory perspective: The case of intense livestock farming in close location to drinking water supplies

Sammanfattning: Veterinary pharmaceuticals used in areas with intense agriculture and livestock/horse yard facilities may leach into the soil and be further transported as runoff into surface waters used as drinking water supplies. The focus of this thesis is to clarify how the existing legal framework on monitoring and regulating these residues, help Sweden to comply with two of the national environmental quality objectives related to drinking water. While scientists point to potential unknown risks of the behaviour of pharmaceutical metabolites in the aquatic environment and to the largely unexplored long-term effects, the legislation addressing this matter seems rather poor. A review of a wide range of literature on legislation on water and pharmaceuticals in the EU and Sweden was conducted. Actors from several areas of expertise were identified through a case study of Lake Vomb in southern Sweden, which is a typical location for the described scenario. Interviews with some of the experts were conducted, and the results were analysed through the focus of actors and regulations. The research confirms that veterinary pharmaceuticals are perceived to likely end up as part of the runoff in the specified locationsand that there is a lack of pressure from the authorities, both from the EU and Sweden, to monitor the residues. However, in comparison to other contaminants from these agribusiness intense areas, like nutrients and pesticides ending up in the nearby water bodies, veterinary pharmaceuticals are regarded to be less of a problem to the environment. Instead, the majority of the actors assent to focus more on upstream, preventative efforts to reduce the pharmaceuticals ending up in the water bodies in the first place. In the course of the collaborating work at a local level to reduce runoff from pesticides and nutrients, veterinary pharmaceuticals should also have a natural place.