Abstract: The present research status of pharmaceuticals in the environment was summarized. The source of pharmaceuticals released to the environment, including drug production, drug use and disposal of excess and outdated pills was elaborated. The detecting methods of pharmaceuticals, involving sample extraction and purifying, chromatographic separation, and chromatography-mass spectrometry, were introduced. The fate of pharmaceuticals in the environment, including the ways of absorption, biodegradation, hydrolysis and photodegradation, was introduced. The environmental impact was illustrated from the findings of chronic and acute effects of pharmaceuticals in laboratory and environment experiments and the complex effects on organism of muti-component pharmaceutical mixtures.