Practices of pharmaceutical waste generation and discarding in households across Portugal

Abstract

This work is the first nationwide study in Portugal on pharmaceutical waste generated at households, exploring people's attitudes and risk perception. The waste audit was carried out from September to November 2014, targeting pharmaceutical products kept by a sample of families (n = 244). This campaign was an assignment of VALORMED, the non-profit association that manages waste and packaging from expired and unused pharmaceutical products collected by the pharmacies. On average, each household kept at home 1097 g of pharmaceutical products, of which 20% were in use, 72% were not in use, and 8% were mostly expired products ready to discard. Face-to-face interviews with householders showed that 69% of the respondents claimed returning pharmaceutical waste to the local pharmacy. However, this figure is overrated, probably owing to a possible 'good answer' effect. The barriers identified to proper disposal were mainly established routines and lack of close disposal points. This study also provides an insight into the Portuguese awareness and daily practices concerning pharmaceutical waste, which is the cornerstone of any future strategy to reduce the release of active pharmaceutical ingredients into ecosystems.

Estoque e descarte de medicamentos no domicílio: uma revisão sistemática

“…The findings reveal that simply implementing collection sites or take-back programs is not sufficient if the population is not educated to change its perceptions and day-to-day habits 1,25,39,43,49 . The population needs to receive health education to learn and recognize proper practices for keeping and discarding medicines.…”

“…Synopsis of studies addressing the reasons people store medications at home and disposal methods. ous treatment; patient's death; lack of adherence or treatment abandonment; excess supply and prescription of excessive dosage; free samples; and the possibility to donate to other people [20][21][22]24,[27][28][29][30][34][35][36]39,40,42,44,[46][47][48][49][50][51] . The accumulation of medicines at home may lead to misuse and expose the population to the potential toxicity of pharmaceuticals 26,41,43,51 .…”

“…The studies listed in this review indicate that the main methods used to dispose of medications at home are: the household trash; flushing into the sewer; returning to pharmacies/healthcare facilities; disposing in the soil; and burning them 19,[22][23][24][25][26]28,[31][32][33][34][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][46][47][48][49][50][51] .…”

“…Tons of residue are collected daily and most are improperly managed, causing undesirable and irreversible effects on the environment 16,51,52,59,61 . Disposing of medications in the sewer or in the soil, by combining them with urban waste, represent a threat to human health, to the integrity of the environment and biodiversity of the planet 1,25,33,41,49,51,62 .…”

Conhecimento, prática e percepção de risco da destinação de medicamentos pela comunidade acadêmica da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

“…A data de validade do medicamento representa o prazo que o produto se encontra dentro das especificações, se armazenado da forma correta (ANVISA, 2010), portanto, o armazenamento no local inadequado pode também influenciar no aumento do descarte de medicamentos por torná-los impróprios para consumo. Estudos realizados em diferentes países mostram que grande parte da população tem o costume de armazenar seus medicamentos em locais inapropriados SHIEFFELBIEN, 2009;DIAS-FERREIRA;VALENTE;VAZ, 2016;LAW et al, 2015;PIVETA et al, 2015;VELLINGA et al, 2014 Os medicamentos são considerados poluentes emergentes, sendo aqueles que apresentam efeitos tóxicos ao meio ambiente e aos seres humanos, mas que não possuem regulamentos que estabeleçam valores máximos permitidos para qualidade da água, e que sua introdução no ambiente é realizada de forma contínua, o que ressalta o fato de que esses poluentes não precisam ser persistentes para afetar negativamente os organismos expostos a eles (HURTADO-SÁNCHEZ et al, 2015).…”