Residues of pharmaceuticals are known to occur widely in the aquatic environment of industrialized countries. Even in developing and emerging countries, information on the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment has become more readily available in recent years. However, a concise and comprehensive overview of the relevant pharmaceuticals, their concentrations in the environment and their potential effects on human health and ecosystems is still pending. The information on worldwide exposure of pharmaceuticals is increasing and the German Environment Agency organises these data in a publicly available database. In 2014, worldwide environmental concentrations (MEC - Measured Environmental Concentrations) of human and veterinary pharmaceutical residues were compiled in a database within the framework of the research project "Pharmaceuticals in the environment - occurrence, effects and options for action". The focus of the existing database was the developing and emerging countries. The now via IPCHEM available update of this database focuses on all worldwide MECs published in peer-reviewed journals until 2016. An update of the PharmsUBA data collection to include new data from 2017 to 2020 is in process.

Data on global occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment was collected through a comprehensive literature review of 1,519 original publications and 240 review articles. The measured environmental concentrations of human and veterinary pharmaceutical substances reported worldwide in surface water, groundwater, tap/drinking water, manure, soil, and other environmental matrices were compiled in a systematic database, which is now shared also via IPCHEM.