The importance of household pharmaceutical products disposal and its risk management: Example from Southwestern Europe

Lima, Maria Luísa; Luís, Silvia; Poggio, Lucía; Aragonés, Juan Ignacio; Courtier, Audrey; Roig, Benoît; Calas‐Blanchard, Carole

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.01.008

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…They suggested the hazard was not perceived as significant enough or the individual's contribution was too small to make a difference. Lima et al, [31] used survey data from Portugal, France and Spain and found risk perception influenced responsible disposal through intention.…”

Section: Risk Perception: Affect Probability and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household disposal of pharmaceuticals: attitudes and risk perception in a UK sample

Watkins

Barnett

Standage

et al. 2022

J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

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Pharmaceuticals can enter the environment through disposal in toilets, sinks and general waste. In the UK, household medicines are correctly disposed of by returning them to a pharmacy. This study examined household patterns of medicine waste, storage and disposal practices via a cross-sectional survey with 663 UK adults. Multiple regression was used to explore the contribution of key variables on self-reported medicines disposal behaviour. Analysis demonstrated that age, information, awareness, probability, attitude and intention all predicted correct disposal behaviour. Results indicate that multiple factors influence different disposal destinations uniquely. Affect and age increase disposal in sink/toilet but reduce disposal in bin. Presence of children increase bin and sink/toilet disposal but decrease pharmacy returns. Awareness and received information on correct disposal reduce bin disposal and increase pharmacy returns. The results suggest people use different mental models for each destination with disposal in sink/toilets and bins considered quicker and safer in the presence of children or for those feeling anxious. It is important to understand the capability, opportunity and motivation people have to return medicines to the pharmacy in addition to raising awareness of correct medicine disposal.

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Section: Risk Perception: Affect Probability and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household disposal of pharmaceuticals: attitudes and risk perception in a UK sample

Watkins

Barnett

Standage

et al. 2022

J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

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“…Health professionals and staff answered individually, while the residents had the assistance of a researcher to facilitate their participation and comprehension of the survey. Measures were adapted from the study by Lima and colleagues (2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research conducted in Southwestern Europe (Lima et al., 2020) showed that participants had low factual knowledge, also known as objective knowledge, and low perceived knowledge, also referred to as subjective knowledge, about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment, and reported needing more information in order to properly deal with the health and environmental risks imposed by this presence. In Lima and colleagues’ study (2020), despite the lack of knowledge, participants still managed to assess the environmental risks and presented medium‐ to high risk perceptions that were based on trust assessments. That is, when participants had a higher trust in the authorities to manage the risk, they also revealed a higher environmental risk perception (Lima et al., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Lima and colleagues’ study (2020), despite the lack of knowledge, participants still managed to assess the environmental risks and presented medium‐ to high risk perceptions that were based on trust assessments. That is, when participants had a higher trust in the authorities to manage the risk, they also revealed a higher environmental risk perception (Lima et al., 2020). Accordingly, a substantial body of research has been showing that when uncertain, people make risk assessments using inductive reasoning and heuristics, especially when they do not have enough time, knowledge, or motivation to make an informed assessment (e.g., Visschers, Meertens, Passchier, & deVries, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, a substantial body of research has been showing that when uncertain, people make risk assessments using inductive reasoning and heuristics, especially when they do not have enough time, knowledge, or motivation to make an informed assessment (e.g., Visschers, Meertens, Passchier, & deVries, 2007). However, trust in the authorities only explained participants’ risk perception to a small extent (Lima et al., 2020), suggesting what other sources of information people intuitively use to assess the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals remains unknown. Moreover, different groups appear to perceive this risk differently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Judging Pharmaceutical Environmental Risk by its Cover? The Effects of Prescription Medication and Disease Severity on Environmental Risk Perception

et al. 2021

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Recent wastewater analyses performed in care homes for the elderly showed high levels of water pollution resulting from pharmaceutical waste. The way people perceive the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals can contribute to reversing this problem, but the factors that influence risk perception remain relatively unknown. The aims of the study are two‐fold. We first focused on exploring the levels of knowledge regarding environment/water pollution due to pharmaceutical residues from the groups responsible for prescribing (health professionals), handling (staff), and consuming pharmaceuticals (residents) in care homes for the elderly. Second, we assessed the environmental risk perception of pharmaceuticals based on two main factors: prescription medication (nonprescribed versus prescribed) and disease severity (milder versus severe disease), accounting for their level of knowledge (deficit versus sufficiency of knowledge). The study was designed based on correlational research. Data were collected in homes for the elderly located in three Southwestern European countries (N = 300), using self‐report surveys. Current knowledge was perceived to be low and the need to know more was perceived to be high, across all groups. As hypothesized, results indicated that to assess the environmental risk, participants made use of information that was unrelated to pharmaceutical persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity (PBT). Prescribed pharmaceuticals and/or medication used to treat severe diseases were perceived as being more hazardous for the environment. Simple main effects analysis comparing between knowledge levels confirmed that this effect occurred mostly when participants had knowledge deficit for disease severity but not for prescription medication. These misconceptions might discourage taking an active role in reducing the impact of pharmaceutical residues in the environment.

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Consumer Medicines Disposal Behavior: Insights Towards a More Sustainable Chain

Lago

Kolling

Auler

et al. 2022

Springer Proceedings in Mathematics &Amp; Statistics

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The importance of household pharmaceutical products disposal and its risk management: Example from Southwestern Europe

Cited by 20 publications

References 24 publications

Household disposal of pharmaceuticals: attitudes and risk perception in a UK sample

Household disposal of pharmaceuticals: attitudes and risk perception in a UK sample

Judging Pharmaceutical Environmental Risk by its Cover? The Effects of Prescription Medication and Disease Severity on Environmental Risk Perception

Consumer Medicines Disposal Behavior: Insights Towards a More Sustainable Chain

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