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In this study, six human pharmaceuticals in wastewater, sediments, and solid waste samples of five hospitals in Gujrat, Pakistan, were detected by a validated high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet method and then their ecological risk assessment was conducted. The pharmaceuticals include paracetamol, naproxen, diclofenac, ibuprofen, amlodipine, and rosuvastatin and were chromatographed on a C-18 column at 254 nm using liquid-liquid extraction. The highest concentration obtained was of paracetamol and it was also detected in all the five hospitals and all the sample matrices (max. 696 ng/mL) whereas, the concentration of other pharmaceuticals were also very high although they were not detected in all the sample matrices. Maximum concentrations of other pharmaceuticals detected were naproxen (220 ng/mL), diclofenac (186 ng/mL), ibuprofen (596 ng/mL), amlodipine (303 ng/mL), and rosuvastatin (104 ng/mL). Risk assessment in terms of risk quotient (RQ) was also calculated based on maximum measured concentration and the RQ values were very high for all pharmaceuticals. The maximum RQ values obtained from different pharmaceuticals were paracetamol (696 against daphnia), naproxen (84 against fish), diclofenac (9300 against O ncorhynchus mykiss), ibuprofen (16 000 against Oryzias latipes), and amlodipine (471 against green algae). The results from this study demand for comprehensive monitoring of pharmaceuticals from different points sources and treatment of all type of wastes including hospital waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]