Visualisation dashboard for pharmaceutical residues

Every year more than 190 tonnes of pharmaceutical residues end up in our water. That affects the environment, flora and fauna, and drinking water. Climate change and an ageing population will make the problem worse in the years ahead.

The network Medicijnresten uit Water Noord-Nederland brings together 46 parties from healthcare, the water sector, government, knowledge institutions and technology. We joined in 2022. Our role: investigate how data can shed light on the nature of the problem.

• Visualise GP prescribing data
• Visualise pharmaceutical residues in sewage water based on sampling

We developed an interactive dashboard for GP prescribing data in both neighbourhoods and for the pharmaceutical residues found in the sewage water. Concentrations of around 30 residues were measured, with an emphasis on medicines with a larger environmental impact and those used for lifestyle-related conditions.

For each type of medication the dashboard shows how often it is prescribed, broken down by year, age group and gender. It also shows to what extent prescribed medicines turn up again in the sewer.

The dashboard can be applied to new datasets, opening up the prescribing behaviour of more GPs and care institutions.