Disposal practices for unwanted residential medications in the United States

Glassmeyer, Susan T.; Hinchey, Elizabeth K.; Boehme, Susan E.; Daughton, Christian G.; Ruhoy, Ilene S.; Conerly, Octavia; Daniels, Rebecca L; Lauer, Lisa; McCarthy, Meg; Nettesheim, Todd G.; Sykes, Kathy; Thompson, Virginia G

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2008.10.007

Cited by 240 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

184

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…b) Diagnostic compounds; such as X-ray contrast media are directly discharged in their native forms. c) Household Disposal; either topic formulations or unused medicines (out-of-date or unwanted) are discarded through the sink/toilet or via waste collection [9,37,38], before being taken to landfill sites where they appear as terrestrial ecosystem contaminants. Alternatively, they may possibly leak into surrounding water compartments [39,40].…”

Section: Sources Of Environmental Contaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…drugs and excipients) in the environment, thus compelling the scientific community to consider this contamination type as a potential issue meriting con-cern [6][7][8]. In fact, tons of them are produced annually worldwide to be consumed by humans or animals [9,10]. They are conceived primarily to have particular physiological modes of action and fre-quently to resist to inactivation before exerting their intended therapeutic effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ecotoxicological aspects related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment

Santos

Araújo

Fachini

et al. 2010

Journal of Hazardous Materials

1,302

533

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pharmaceuticals are biologically active and persistent substances which have been recognized as a con-tinuing threat to environmental stability. Chronic ecotoxicity data as well as information on the current distribution levels in different environmental compartments continue to be sparse and are focused on those therapeutic classes that are more frequently prescribed and consumed. Nevertheless, they indicate the negative impact that these chemical contaminants may have on living organisms, ecosystems and ultimately, public health. This article reviews the different contamination sources as well as fate and both acute and chronic effects on nontarget organisms. An extensive review of existing data in the form of tables, encompassing many therapeutic classes is presented.Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, Sources, Environmental fate, Ecotoxicological effects

show abstract

Section: Sources Of Environmental Contaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecotoxicological aspects related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment

Santos

Araújo

Fachini

et al. 2010

Journal of Hazardous Materials

1,302

533

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additional sources include the discarding of unused antibiotics and leftovers from medicinal industrial practices [13]. Residential and commercial facilities are identifi ed suppliers of antibiotics to community wastewater [14].…”

Section: Sources Of Antibiotics In the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Residual Antibiotics in Pharmaceutical Effluents and their Fate in Affected Areas

Hussain

Naeem

Chaudhry

2016

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The first federal (US) guidance for consumer disposal of drugs, issued in 2007, recommended discarding them in the household trash [108]. US consumers have been offered scheduled national "Drug Take Back Days" by the US Drug Enforcement Administration where excess drugs may be dropped off with drug enforcement officials prior to the drugs being disposed of responsibly.…”

Section: Disposal and Destructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The traditional method for "left over" drug disposal is to squirt any remaining liquid drug into a waste receptacle, sink or toilet [27,68,108]. The first federal (US) guidance for consumer disposal of drugs, issued in 2007, recommended discarding them in the household trash [108].…”

Section: Disposal and Destructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmaceutical Dispensing and Wasting In Health Care Facilities, Amounts, Costs and Evaluation of Potential Ecologic Effects

Mankes¹,

Silver²

2017

SOJPPS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drug waste from hospitals contributes to environmental contamination. Patient excreta, bathing or discarding of excess drugs are some sources of drug waste. We report on the wasting of 84 drugs of 14 therapeutic classes in two hospitals in Albany, NY. We consider drug metabolism, excretion, disposal and ecotoxicity in strategies for reducing drug waste, costs and potential environmental damage.Medication (12,345) and waste collection (199) records for: drugs dispensed, returned and wasted were examined. Of 2,700 drugs available, 84 drugs from 14 classes, weighing 56 kg were dispensed to patients, and 2.3 kg were wasted. Twelve drugs accounted for 80 percent of the drug waste and cost $111,000. Of the top wasted and dispensed drugs, all but ibuprofen are persistant and none were bioaccumulative. Ibuprofen, ipratropium ondansetron and oxymetazoline are "very highly toxic" or "highly toxic". Environmental Risk Ratio (PEC/PNEC) for the 20 top drugs were"Insignificant" or "Cannot Be Excluded".Acetazolamide is the most toxic to fish. Dexamethasone has the greatest chronic toxicity to Ceriodaphnia. Ibuprofen is predicted to be very highly toxic (acute and chronic) to zebra mussel, crab and fish. Neostigmine is the most acutely toxic (LC50<1 mg/L) to Daphnia. Ondansetron is the most acutely toxic to green algae. All but 2 of the drugs were 5 to 100% excreted. Fourteen were metabolised. Active metabolites were formed from 2 drugs. Nicardipine, ondansetron and prednisone formed drug conjugates which were excreted. Incineration was the manufacturer's recommended disposal method.We recommend excess drugs be returned to the hospital pharmacy for disposal by incineration. Drug use and disposal should be monitored by an expert committee according to recognized guidelines of pharmaceutical management. Knowledge of the adverse impacts from the release of highly toxic drugs into the environment must influence drug selection and disposal.Key words: Waste; Ecotoxicity; Wastewater; Abbreviations AMCH = Academic Medical Center Hospital; ASTER = Assessment Tools for the Evaluation of Risk. United States Environmental Protection Agency https://archive.epa.gov/med/med_archive_03/web/html/ aster.html Last accessed 6/4/17; B = Bioaccumulation is the general term describing a process by which chemicals are taken up by an organism either directly from exposure to a contaminated medium or by consumption of food containing the chemical; EC50 = Effective Concentration producing an adverse effect in 50% of a test species; EbC50 or ErC50 = EC50 in terms of reduction of growth rate; EyC50 = EC50 in terms of change in biomass yield; Ecosar = Ecologic Structure Activity Relationships is a computerized predictive system that estimates aquatic toxicity. The program estimates a chemical's acute (short-term) toxicity and chronic (long-term or delayed) toxicity to aquatic organisms such as fish, invertebrates, and plants by using computerized Structure Activity Relationships (SARs). https://www.epa.gov/tsca-screening-tools/ ecological-structure-...

show abstract

Disposal practices for unwanted residential medications in the United States

Cited by 240 publications

References 26 publications

Ecotoxicological aspects related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment

Ecotoxicological aspects related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment

Estimation of Residual Antibiotics in Pharmaceutical Effluents and their Fate in Affected Areas

Pharmaceutical Dispensing and Wasting In Health Care Facilities, Amounts, Costs and Evaluation of Potential Ecologic Effects

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About