Felodipine

Detailed information

Fass environmental information

Fass environmental information for Plendil (felodipine) from AstraZeneca (downloaded 2020-11-02).

Hazard

Persistence: "Felodipine is not readily biodegradable." and is potentially persistent.

Bioaccumulation: Log P = 3.86. "Since Log P < 4 the phrase "Felodipine has low potential for bioaccumulation" is assigned."

Acute toxicity: There are data for 3 trophic levels, lowest for fish (Oncorhynchus mykiss) 0.05 mg/L.

Risk

PEC/PNEC is based on sales data in Sweden in 2017. PEC/PNEC = 0.7, which gives the risk low, i.e. consideration has not been given to measured levels in the environment.

Report Goodpoint 2016

Levels of felodipine measured in the environment in Sweden are estimated to be high enough to give therapeutic levels in fish, based on the fat solubility. Mechanism based data is missing.

Felodipine is included in Region Stockholm's table of pharmaceuticals with risk for negative environmental impact according to the environmental programme 2017–2021. Felodipine has been detected in treated wastewater in Region Stockholm.

Report Goodpoint 2018

Comparative assessment of environmental risk with the use of calcium antagonists amlodipine and felodipine in Sweden.

Amlodipine is estimated to be much less fat soluble (log P = 2.1) than felodipine (log P = 4.5). Experimental data (methodology partially unclear) suggests a slightly smaller difference (amlodipine log P = 3.04; felodipine 3.8 to 3.86). Although there are some uncertainties about the exact fat solubility of the substances, both chemical data and comparable data indicate that felodipine is more ecotoxic than amlodipine.

Amlodipine, recommended in the Wise list, is better from an environmental point of view than felodipine. The Wise list is the drug formulary of essential medicines for common diseases in Region Stockholm from the Drug and Therapeutics Committee.

Suggestions on how to reduce emissions of felodipine

Concrete proposals on how to work to reduce emissions of environmentally harmful pharmaceuticals on the list have been developed in close cooperation with the Region Stockholm Drug and Therapeutics Committee's expert groups. The action proposals were developed from an environmental perspective. The patient's best always goes first and several pharmaceuticals on the list are also included in the Wise list. However, for such pharmaceuticals, there may be measures that could reduce the environmental impact.