Pharmaceutical waste management

 

The discovery of a variety of pharmaceuticals in surface, ground, and drinking waters around the country is raising concerns about the potentially adverse environmental consequences of these contaminants.  Pharmaceutical waste management Minute concentrations of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, some of which are pharmaceuticals, are having detrimental effects on aquatic species and possibly on human health and development. The consistent increase in the use of potent pharmaceuticals, driven by both drug development and our aging population, is creating a corresponding increase in the amount of pharmaceutical waste generated. Pharmaceutical waste is not one single waste stream, but many distinct waste streams that reflect the complexity and diversity of the chemicals that comprise pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical waste is potentially generated through a wide variety of activities in a health care facility, including but not limited to intravenous (IV) preparation, general compounding, spills/breakage, partially used vials, syringes, and IVs, discontinued, unused preparations, unused unit dose repacks, patients’ personal medications and outdated pharmaceuticals.