At each stage of a pharmaceutical lifecycle, there is a significant risk of environmental exposure. For this reason, it is imperative to implement both source directed and end of pipe control measures. This will mitigate any potential hazards to the environment or to humans. The ever-increasing use and availability of pharmaceuticals in the last decade have led to the contamination of surface water ecosystems with ng/L to µg/L concentrations. The environmental fate and toxicological implications of many pharmaceuticals and their residues are not fully understood. Additionally, the stability and biological activity of these “micropollutants” can lead to chronic environmental exposure causing behavioural and health-related effects. This research investigates pharmaceuticals chosen from the updated surface water “Watch List” (Decision (EU) 2018 /840), followed by pharmaceuticals which are commonly found in European surface water and pharmaceuticals which have a low removal efficiency in wastewater treatment plants. This project aims to create a comprehensive prioritisation framework and a risk-based assessment by calculating their risk quotient for each of the chosen pharmaceuticals.