Environmental Contamination with Endocrine Disruptors and Pharmaceuticals: An Environmetrical Evaluation Approach

Abstract

Achieving sustainable development in the environmental and health sector it is absolutely necessary to keep the ground- and consequently the drinking water free of contaminants. Unfortunately several chemicals are detected in environmental media. An intensive literature survey was performed for 7 environmental targets and the presence of 12 selected chemicals (pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors) therin. 75 articles recently published in international scientific journals performed the basis for the evaluation approach. The seven attributes to be looked upon the presence of at least one of the 12 drugs in those 7 environmental media. The consideration of the environmental media in any publication is coded by 0 (not available) or 1 (available). A 75 (objects) x 7 (attributes) data-matrix results. Several methods of mathematical and statistical background are applied. These are the Hasse Diagram Technique, a method derived from discrete mathematics, the POSAC (Partially Ordered Scalogram Analysis with Coordinates) method and the PCA (Principle Component Analysis), both multivariate statistical methods. Applying the Hasse Diagram Technique Method the most important publications are revealed as well as the least important ones. The PCA data-analysis method shows an exceptional position for the environmental media surface water and waste water.