Recipharm Presents its Seventh International Environmental Award Winner

Recipharm is pleased to announce that its seventh International Environmental Award has been awarded to Dr Ettore Zuccato, head of the Laboratory of Food Toxicology, Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research (Milan, Italy), in recognition of his longstanding work as an outstanding scientist, resulting in identification, quantification and monitoring levels of environmental contamination from pharmaceuticals.

The purpose of the Recipharm International Environmental Award is to encourage and inspire best practice and innovation to promote good examples and to encourage environmental dialog within the pharmaceutical industry. The prize is awarded annually by Recipharm to the best environmental performance or environmental best practice and innovation by the academic community or pharmaceutical industry. Since Recipharm was founded in 1995, its commitment to environmental best practice has been a pivotal corporate mission.

Dr Ettore Zuccato is internationally recognized as a leading scientist in the field of emerging environmental contaminants, with a specialist focus on pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in surface waters. He has conducted pioneering research, together with other prominent scientists, on quantifying the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the Italian aquatic environment, with the study results published in “The Lancet”, fuelling global concern about the potential environmental impact that pharmaceuticals can have.

His group carried out multiple studies in waste water including identifying pharmaceutical pollutants prevalent in Northern Italy, and validating an analytical method that simultaneously determines pharmaceuticals of various therapeutic categories present in waste water. Furthermore, he initiated research into the presence of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in Italian rivers, sewage treatment plants and drinking water samples,   characterising contamination and assessing related risks.

Lars Backsell, Chairman of the board of Recipharm, commented: “Recipharm is deeply honoured to award this accolade to Dr Ettore Zuccato. Indeed, he is one the foremost authorities and leaders in the field of environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals. His authoritative research, which has been published extensively across world leading scientific journals, has provided a comprehensive view in this critical subject area.”

He continued: “Moreover, one important focus of his research is the need for proper evaluation of the multiple possibilities offered by new technologies to improve pharmaceuticals to mitigate the adverse environmental consequences of widespread environmental contamination.”

Commenting on winning the award, Dr Ettore Zuccato remarked: “I take great pride in being granted this award from Recipharm. I, together with other scientific experts and researchers, have devoted long years of research into harm caused to the environment and to drawing attention to the contamination concerned, how it can be best identified, assessed and monitored and how improvements can be made to reduce the levels.”
 

He added: “I look forward to continuing my studies in the certain knowledge that prominent organisations in the pharma industry, like Recipharm  are taking an active interest in environmental contamination, and furthering the drive to heighten awareness and change matters for the better, through this type of accolade.”