PARACETAMOL

Paracetamol is a widely used for relieving pain and reducing fever worldwide as a non-prescription drug. It is one of the most pharmaceutical products often detected in sewage treatment plant effluents, surface water, and drinking water, so it has emerged as an imperative aquatic environmental pollutant, originating from pharmaceutical industries and human use. The experiment was carried out at the University of Benin's forensic ecotoxicology lab. This research employed column chromatography methods to extract and analyze paracetamol, from the surface water of the Ogba River in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, as well as the river's physicochemical parameters. Paracetamol was detected in water as having a concentration with mean values of 0.17555ug/ml,0.8056ug/ml, and 0.46776 ug/ml for Stations 1, 2, and 3 respectively. In sediments, Paracetamol was detected in concentration with mean values of 0.357995 ug/ml, 0.7553 ug/ml, and 1.9228 ug/ml for Stations 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The result of the water sample from the three stations sampled were observed to be high in the concentration of iron, with a mean value exceeding the WHO limit set for drinking water quality. Reduction of human exposure to pharmaceuticals through drinking-water can be achieved through a combination of preventive measures, such as regulations, public guidance and consumer education to encourage the proper disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals and minimize the introduction of pharmaceuticals into the environment.

A large number of people, when they fall sick, do not consult the physician. We have noticed that right from popular magazine editors to our domestic servant everyone thinks that he or she is a medical authority, and if we have a fever, cold, cough, constipation or indigestion, our friends or even total strangers volunteer advice on medicines to take like expert physicians. Almost everyone we meet has an excellent remedy for whatever ails we have. In short, this is what is meant be self-medication (Balbuena et al., 2009). May be most of the times nothing untoward happens on following such advice, but it can be dangerous. Medicines are important to help us get cured at the right time. But popping medicines on our own, without the doctor’s consult can become fatal.