ABSTRACT
It is inevitable that during their use, veterinary medicines will be released to the terrestrial environment. For hormones, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical agents administered either orally or by injection to animals, the major route of entry of the product into the soil environment is probably via excretion following use and the subsequent disposal of contaminated manure onto land (HallingSørensen et al. 2001; Boxall et al. 2004). Drugs administered to grazing animals or animals reared intensively outdoors may be deposited directly to land or surface water in dung or urine, exposing soil organisms to high local concentrations (Sommer et al. 1992; Halling-Sørensen et al. 1998; Montforts 1999; Floate et al. 2005).
