Handling of unused prescription drugs — knowledge, behaviour and attitude among Swedish people

Persson, Matilda; Sabelström, Emma; Gunnarsson, Bo

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2008.10.002

Cited by 148 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…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 c) Household Disposal; either topic formulations or unused medicines (out-of-date or unwanted) are discarded through the sink/toilet or via waste collection [9,37,38], before being taken to landfill sites where they appear as terrestrial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%

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

Santos

Araújo

Fachini

et al. 2010

Journal of Hazardous Materials

1,282

533

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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

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Section: Sources Of Environmental Contaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Santos

Araújo

Fachini

et al. 2010

Journal of Hazardous Materials

1,282

533

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A Swedish study revealed that "returning unused extra medication to pharmacy" is the predominant method for Swedish citizen to "dispose" unused medication because citizen were concerned about the environmental implication. [4,17] Therefore, education on environmental awareness should be incorporated into MRP promotion syllabus. A suggestion from study team is to include visual factual education clips on "where do unused medication go" and "why should I care" topics into MRP promotion syllabus.…”

Section: Utilization Of Mrp Yes Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[9][10][11][12] The most common way to discard unwanted medication in majority of the countries is to throw it into the trash, [13][14][15][16] except for the Swedish where returning to the pharmacy is the predominant method to "dispose" unused medication. [17] A systematic review reported that due to the paucity of evidence, connection between knowledge on environment impact of inappropriate disposal and the preference toward disposal method cannot be established. [4] Hence, this is one of the knowledge gaps that this study endeavors to fill.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilization of Ministry of Health Medication Return Programme, Knowledge and Disposal Practice of Unused Medication in Malaysia

Yang¹,

Tan²,

Goh³

et al. 2018

JPPCM

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Objective: (1) To report the awareness on MRP and its utilization rate. (2) To assess environment awareness with regards to improper disposal. (3) To explore practices toward unused medication. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 33 out-patient pharmacies in Sabah healthcare facilities. Quota sampling was used to recruit 244 subjects. Data collector from each facility was identified and trained prior to data collection. Self-reporting questionnaire captured data of socio-demographic, awareness on MRP and patient's knowledge and practice towards unused medication. Independent t-test and chi square test were performed to detect differences and association. Result: Subject mean (SD) age was 45.1(15.5) years and almost two-third (60%) of the subjects were female. Majority (73%, 95%CI 67-78%) knew that inappropriate disposal of medication will cause environmental hazard. Only 54% (95% CI 47-60%) had heard of MRP, 26% (95%CI 21-32%) had utilized MRP to return unused medication.Subject's awareness on environmental hazard and MRP were associated with their practice to return unused medication (p=0.001 and p<0.001 respectively). Mean years of education and median family income were significantly different between the aware and unaware group respectively [11.3(6.0) vs 8.9(4.5) yrs, p=0.003; RM2000 vs RM1260, p<0.001]. The most common unused medication were analgesics (27.1%), antihypertensive (24.4%), antiglycemic (14.7%) and supplements (12%). The two predominant methods to "dispose" unused medication at home were through garbage (47.8%) and return to healthcare facilities (30.0%). Conclusion: This study has established the evidence for public awareness on MRP, environment awareness and disposal practice of Malaysian citizen. Creative and innovative recommendations have been made for MRP promotion and to improve public knowledge on safety disposal of unused medication.

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“…The practice of sending waste medications in many countries, such as Sweden, to phar-macies for the destruction of active ingredients utilizing high-temperature incineration is common. 29 This disposal and destruction system is state-controlled in conjunction with the nationwide pharmaceutical wholesaler and overseen by the Swedish Phar-maceutical Society. On the other hand, not all United State pharmacies accept returned medications, particularly controlled drugs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecopharmacovigillance aspect of unwanted and expired medications in Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Marouf

2017

Zanco J Med Sci

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Background and objective: Unwanted and expired medications are accumulated at the homes and the community Pharmacies due to many reasons. Improper disposal and its hazardous impact on the environment is one of the major issues. This study aimed to identify the currently followed methods of disposing expired/unused medications at the homes and the community pharmacies and to report the response of the pharmacists regarding disposal of medications in Sulaimani city. Methods: This study was carried out between July 2015 and February 2016. A total of 145 houses and 62 pharmacies were observed utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. All expired/unwanted drugs were quantitatively analyzed. Results:The results revealed that 95.2% of respondents throw away their unwanted pharmaceuticals in the garbage. Around 41% of respondents showed their awareness of the potential harm to the environment by improper disposal of medication while 59.3% were unaware. Most participants (91%) believed that returning expired/unused medications to a community pharmacy is a proper way for disposal of them. Around 39% of the community pharmacies throw away the expired medications in the garbage, while 46.8% of them returned them to the suppliers. Additionally, 58.1% of the community pharmacists agreed to use their workplace as a collection point for collecting expired/unused medications. Conclusion: High amount of expired/unused medications were kept in the households that necessitate establishing a procedure for disposal that ensures safety to human and environment. There was good interest in the collection of unused medications for proper disposal in the community pharmacies.

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Handling of unused prescription drugs — knowledge, behaviour and attitude among Swedish people

Cited by 148 publications

References 3 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

Utilization of Ministry of Health Medication Return Programme, Knowledge and Disposal Practice of Unused Medication in Malaysia

Ecopharmacovigillance aspect of unwanted and expired medications in Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

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