Pharmaceutical chemicals are specially designed to act on living cells which is presents a special risk when they enter, persist and disseminate in the environment. Chemical processes are used to produce chemical products and are by definition processes which include chemical alteration.

Pharmaceutical chemistry is the study of drugs, and it involves drug development. This includes drug discovery, delivery, absorption, metabolism, and more. There are elements of biomedical analysis, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Pharmaceutical chemistry work is usually done in a lab setting.