The Pharmaceutical Pollution of Water Resources Using the Example of the Kura River (Tbilisi, Georgia)

Abstract

This article addresses the issues of pharmaceutical pollution of the Kura River. Existing published information on the pollution of the world’s rivers and rivers in Georgia was analyzed. Based on laboratory studies of water samples within the city of Tbilisi, which were carried out to identify psychostimulating and analeptic drugs, antibiotics of the macrolide group, nicotine, and analgesic–antipyretics, the places with the highest levels of pollution were identified. Based on the analysis of the dynamics of growth in the sales of pharmaceuticals in the world and Georgia, empirical dependencies were obtained for predicting the growth in sales as an indirect factor that indicates an increase in the pollution of natural water sources. Particular attention is paid to improving the legislative framework for the disposal of products of industrial production sectors that are related to medicine, human health, and agriculture.