Drugs are an important aspect of disease prevention and treatment. The process involved in getting rid of drugs that have expired or are no longer relevant is what is referred to as pharmaceutical disposal. At the household level, expired medication is usually discarded in the bin unless it is contraindicated by instructions on the label. On a large scale, guidelines are necessary to ensure correct and safe disposal. Such guidelines exist in California.
An example of situations where drugs have to be disposed in large amounts is donations made by companies to regions that have been hit by certain calamities. These disaster stricken areas may lack the necessary resources to store the drugs and sometimes the cargo may arrive close to the date of expiry. Even when they come in early, long before due date, the people on the ground may take advantage of the durability and mismanage the drugs. Other than that, instructions may be written in a foreign language or the medication may not be suitable for those affected.
Guidelines are therefore very important for management of donation related drugs. Expiry date of these donation may within one year or more from the time of shipment to the donation. Giving out drugs whose shelf life is less than a year is only beneficial to destination areas that have good storage systems.
Any method can be used for disposal on condition that keeps the environment safe from pollution. Improvisation can be done in countries that are not able to afford more advanced methods such as incineration which is commonly used in industrialized regions. Very high temperatures of above one thousand two hundred degrees Celsius are necessary for effective incineration.
Before anything else, protective equipment must be adorned. Some of these equipment may include overalls, masks, gloves among others. In methods that require pondering capsules or tablets, face masks come in handy to protect the eyes from splashes. Once one is fully protected, sorting begins. Sorting entails separating drugs that may still be portable from those that require disposal.
Land filling is one of the cost effective methods used in disposal. It entails dumping of solid waste at a given location directly without any initial preparation of the land or treatment of the waste. A disadvantage of this method though affordable is environmental exposure to pollution. Also, in term s of drug disposal, certain medication such as narcotics may be picked by scavengers at the site and reintroduced into the market.
Alternatively, expired medication can be collected in a container until it is approximately seventy five percent full after which additional harmless material fills up the container forming a block. This material may be in form of lime combined with cement or plain cement. Care should be taken that not potential explosives are present in the containers.
There are drugs that can simply be flushed down the toilet or sink. Some of this may include intravenous fluids and syrups. An exception to this are antibiotics that are not capable of being biodegraded as they interfere with the treatment process of the sewerage systems. Disposal of anticancer drugs into water systems is also contraindicated as it causes contamination and destruction of aquatic life.
An example of situations where drugs have to be disposed in large amounts is donations made by companies to regions that have been hit by certain calamities. These disaster stricken areas may lack the necessary resources to store the drugs and sometimes the cargo may arrive close to the date of expiry. Even when they come in early, long before due date, the people on the ground may take advantage of the durability and mismanage the drugs. Other than that, instructions may be written in a foreign language or the medication may not be suitable for those affected.
Guidelines are therefore very important for management of donation related drugs. Expiry date of these donation may within one year or more from the time of shipment to the donation. Giving out drugs whose shelf life is less than a year is only beneficial to destination areas that have good storage systems.
Any method can be used for disposal on condition that keeps the environment safe from pollution. Improvisation can be done in countries that are not able to afford more advanced methods such as incineration which is commonly used in industrialized regions. Very high temperatures of above one thousand two hundred degrees Celsius are necessary for effective incineration.
Before anything else, protective equipment must be adorned. Some of these equipment may include overalls, masks, gloves among others. In methods that require pondering capsules or tablets, face masks come in handy to protect the eyes from splashes. Once one is fully protected, sorting begins. Sorting entails separating drugs that may still be portable from those that require disposal.
Land filling is one of the cost effective methods used in disposal. It entails dumping of solid waste at a given location directly without any initial preparation of the land or treatment of the waste. A disadvantage of this method though affordable is environmental exposure to pollution. Also, in term s of drug disposal, certain medication such as narcotics may be picked by scavengers at the site and reintroduced into the market.
Alternatively, expired medication can be collected in a container until it is approximately seventy five percent full after which additional harmless material fills up the container forming a block. This material may be in form of lime combined with cement or plain cement. Care should be taken that not potential explosives are present in the containers.
There are drugs that can simply be flushed down the toilet or sink. Some of this may include intravenous fluids and syrups. An exception to this are antibiotics that are not capable of being biodegraded as they interfere with the treatment process of the sewerage systems. Disposal of anticancer drugs into water systems is also contraindicated as it causes contamination and destruction of aquatic life.
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