The accessibility of data on environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals: Is the marketing authorisation procedure in conflict with the international right of access to environmental information?

Background For a large part of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) available on the market, there is no or no comprehensive environmental risk assessment (ERA) existent/available. Existing ERAs are, moreover, treated as commercially/industrial confidential information (CCI) and the information content on the ERAs contained in the Public Assessment Reports is very limited. Thus, neither the public can inform itself sufficient nor environmental authorities can use the ERAs to compile environmental quality standards. Environmental information law, on the other hand, requires the general accessibility of environmental information. Against this background, this investigation examines the following questions in conformity with the environmental information law: Which environmental information on pharmaceuticals is generated in the marketing authorisation? Which of the environmental information generated in the marketing authorisation is available to the public? Does the environmental information on pharmaceuticals concern CCI? Results According to international and European environmental information law, there is in principal a right of access to the ERAs of pharmaceuticals (environmental information according to Art. 2(3)(b) Aarhus Convention), which is ineffective due to product-based data and allegedly conflicting CCI. The practised blanket classification of CCI by the marketing authorisation holders is in conflict with the principle of transparency of environmental information law. In any case, the outcomes of the ERA (in particular the ecotoxicity endpoints) may not be classified as CCI. Furthermore, the publicly accessible information in the format of the Public Assessment Report does not sufficiently reflect the information from ERAs and thus does not fulfil the mandate of active access to information (Art. 5 Aarhus Convention). The conflict between the actual accessibility of environmental information on pharmaceuticals and the requirements of environmental information law could be resolved through an API-based publicly accessible database with the outcomes of the ERAs (including all underlying ecotoxicity endpoints). To fulfil the right of access to environmental information effectively, the database also needs to be extended to old APIs for which environmental risk assessments have not yet been carried out. This would be the basis for prioritisation of API and establishing a monograph system. Conclusion The environmental information law requires an improved accessibility of ERAs that could be achieved through an API-based publicly accessible database.