Comparing Environmental Policies to Reduce Pharmaceutical Pollution and Address Disparities

Abstract

Pharmaceutical products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients and inactive ingredients such as packaging materials, have raised significant concerns due to their persistent input and potential threats to human and environmental health. Discourse on reducing pharmaceutical waste and subsequent pollution is often limited, as information about the toxicity of pharmaceuticals in humans is yet to be fully established. Nevertheless, there is growing awareness about ecotoxicity, and efforts to curb pharmaceutical pollution in the European Union (EU), United States (US), and Canada have emerged along with waste disposal and treatment procedures, as well as growing concerns about impacts on human and animal health, such as through antimicrobial resistance. Yet, the outcomes of such endeavors are often disparate and involve multiple agencies, organizations, and departments with little evidence of cooperation, collaboration, or oversight. Environmental health disparities occur when communities exposed to a combination of poor environmental quality and social inequities experience more sickness and disease than wealthier, less polluted communities. In this paper, we discuss pharmaceutical environmental pollution in the context of health disparities and examine policies across the US, EU, and Canada in minimizing environmental pollution.

Cellulose-based waste structure and chemical composition impact on the adsorption of pharmaceuticals

“…The influence of the initial pH of the aqueous solution (the concentration of each sedative was 500 µg/dm 3 ) on adsorption capacities was tested by setting the initial pH to 2, 4, 6, and 8. Additionally, the adsorption of sedatives onto unmodified and modified fibers and yarn samples was performed without the pH adjustment (measured initial pH was 5.5).To examine the effect of contact time on adsorption from 500 µg/dm 3 sedative solution, at specified time intervals (5,15,30,60,120, and 180 minutes), the sedative concentration was measured using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The influence of initial concentration was examined using a sedative solution with different concentrations (250, 750, 1000, and 1250 µg/dm 3 ).…”

“…Some of the most important sources are effluents from the pharmaceutical industry, with high concentrations of pharmaceuticals due to discharges directly from factories; urban wastewater; inadequate disposal of expired or unused drugs; agricultural and livestock waste, especially livestock, because in large intensive livestock farms animals are fed food containing drugs, but also due to the application of untreated animal wastes as a soil supplement [2]. Pharmaceutical products, even at very low concentrations, can be biologically effective causing harmful effects, such as ecotoxicity (acute and chronic toxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity); pharmacological effects (hormone and immune system interference) and antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21 st century [4,5].…”

Intentions to Create Green Start-Ups for Collection of Unwanted Drugs: An Empirical Study

“…For this reason, Kaewchutima et al [8] argued that proper waste disposal practice-related knowledge should be intensively promoted. Therefore, there is no doubt that unwanted drugs have many serious impacts (such as contamination and toxicity) on public health and the environment (e.g., animals, water, and plants) [2,4,[9][10][11], as well as on the economy. In this regard, waste drugs can be classified in several ways.…”

Modeling Predictors of Medication Waste Reduction Intention in Algeria: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…In fact, medication waste is a complex issue, with economic, environmental, social, and ethical dimensions [ 15 , 18 ], and accordingly, most of the methods of medications disposal (mentioned above) fall within the irresponsible and unethical behaviors that have a serious impact on human health and the environment, including animals, water, and plants [ 20 ]. The practice of wasting medications as immoral [ 15 ] and irresponsible behavior includes the excessive purchase of medications (such as painkillers, ointments, etc.…”

“…Thus, the waste of medications is considered a serious problem which has serious negative consequences on the environment and society [ 13 , 15 , 20 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] and public health [ 6 , 28 , 29 ], and leads to economic and financial losses [ 26 , 30 ] that greatly affect the health care budget [ 19 , 31 ] in various countries of the world. Accordingly, solving this problem requires the concerted efforts of many stakeholders [ 31 ], and taking appropriate measures to reduce medication waste [ 4 ].…”